The neighbors were moving but we didn’t know it would be slowly over the course of 3 weeks. The older teenage boy had an attachment to Chuey. I felt a tiny bit bad- BUT- he wasn’t feeding,watering or giving the dog any shelter. When the young man was home, I left him and the dog with the fence between them.
It was a Monday night when he and his friends were outside with another dog. It got dark, we locked the fence and all seemed to be quiet. I didn’t see the dog, but it was not uncommon for him to be under the house with shyness. By midnight I was getting upset because Chuey’s food bowl was full and his bed empty. Three, four, and seven a.m. – NO DOG!
The fence is a 5 foot fence, with a locked gate. The only way to steal the dog was to climb the fence and lift the dog over.
I ran around and nothing. Upset I called the dad. Mom answered and didn’t have a clue about the dog. She called to the teen, “What dog?” Just then we heard a very distinctive bark from their backyard. There was the dog. Tied next to a new full grown dog- that came from who knows where.
We had him walk the dog back. We explained to him that he wasn’t going to get the dog back because he didn’t take care of him. Food, water, shelter,walks…. love and attention. I’m afraid these words drifted in one ear and out the other….sadly- We ended with a stern warning that we would call the cops, next time!
We were so lucky that he was such a bad criminal! Had he taken the dog to the new house we never would have been able to find him!
