Violet, who you have read about on these pages for many months, was stolen on Saturday, June  25 by L.C. and A.T. of Portland formerly of Sandpoint, Idaho. We know who did it because Ms. T. called our home line. We keep the line but don’t use it so did not receive the call in a timely manner. Ms. T. left a voice mail that they had found Violet a substantial distance from our home. Violet was tired and dehydrated.  When my son contacted Mr. Camp, he  accused us of animal cruelty for allowing  Violet to be in a fenced yard, with a covered patio, loads of trees, water, and dog house. The temperature in Boise was in the high seventies at the time. She was also with her dear friend, Shani.  While Violet was missing, Shani would wander the house looking for her.  At night, she went into Violet’s crate searching for her.

After informing me over the phone that I was an abusive pet owner and my son a potential dog killer, Mr. C. promised to take Violet to the animal shelter on Sunday morning.  When we arrived  in Boise from a week long trip through Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, Violet was not at the shelter Sunday afternoon.  I had cried all the way through Utah because Mr. C had sent me a threatening text message telling me I did not deserve to have animals.  I knew intuitively that Mr. C. would not relinquish Violet to us voluntarily.

Upon reviewing the text message, staff at the Humane Society advised us to file a theft report with the Boise Police which we did.  Both Mr. C. and Ms. T. were charged with theft.  The Boise police, however, would not even contact Mr. C.  They  left that to us to do.

My husband, being a wonderful person and concerned about my distress, did contact Mr. C who when confronted with the possibility of being charged with theft said he had left the dog at the pound. My husband went out to the Humane Society on Tuesday to verify Mr. C.’s word and once again no Violet.  Late Tuesday afternoon, we received a call from the Idaho Humane Society that Violet had been dropped off.  We are all so thankful!

I am of the opinion that Mr. C. and Ms. T. felt they were doing the best thing for Violet.  Unfortunately, they made a series of judgments about me and my family without knowing the facts of our loving family and long-term emotional relationship with our furry friends.  The only way we were able to recover Violet was by aggressive, pro-active actions on our part.  Believe me, Mr. C was extremely unpleasant in all of our dealings with him.   Of course, as you all know from reading these pages, to know Violet is to love her.  I believe Mr. C. and Ms. T. fell under her spell and wanted to keep her.

My suggestions to all of you who have pets you love is as follows:

1. Make sure your pets have chips and that the chip registration is up to date.  This is how we could document for the police that Violet had not been dropped off at any shelter.
2. Have ownership tags on your dogs collars.  That is how we received the first phone call.
3. Update the tags if you have moved from using your land lines to using cells. This is why we gave the impression of not being concerned.  We very seldom check our land line.
4. Be persistent.  Mr. C was abusive to us but we tried a variety of approaches to getting the dog returned.  We visited the Humane Society every day, contacted the Oregon Humane Society, contacted the Veterinary Association with picture and chip number.
5. While law enforcement won’t do much to help, having a theft report in hand does provide leverage if you follow-up  with the perpetrator.
6. Use social media to contact friends.  My son was able to identify the perpetrator on Facebook and we were able to provide the police with CHIP number, phone numbers., Facebook accounts, picture of the dog, etc.

I am so thankful to have Violet returned.