Ladner family distraught after finding missing dog with new owner
By Jessica Kerr, The Delta Optimist January 25, 2011
A Ladner family is looking for answers after its missing dog was found years later with a new owner.
Four years ago, Jamie Gillespie got up one morning to find his basement door open and his blue-heeler cross, Cleo, gone.
He said he called the local animal shelter and put missing dog posters up around town.
Cleo had a collar as well as an ear tattoo, so Gillespie said he assumed he would be contacted if the dog was brought to a shelter.
"I just didn't know what else to do, there was no sign of her," he said.
Last week as Gillespie was driving along Cambie Street in Vancouver he spotted a familiar looking dog tied up outside the Choices Market at 19th Avenue.
He stopped, approached the dog and said he was able to identify it as the missing Cleo by the deformed claw on its left front paw, something it had since birth.
"It was her, no question," Gillespie said.
He waited outside the store for the current owner to return and when she did, he started asking her questions about the dog.
Initially, Gillespie said the woman told him she got the dog from a friend six years ago, then he said he told her that the dog was his and had gone missing from his home four years ago.
"She didn't really want to talk to me anymore," he said.
Eventually, someone called police.
Gillespie said two officers arrived to deal with the situation and after getting his information and his side of the story, he was asked to leave the area.
The officers took the dog to a nearby vet to have the tattoo checked.
Cleo's tattoo was traced back to Gillespie's vet here in Ladner, but there was some confusion over one of the letters in the coded tattoo.
The mystery deepened when the vet's office was able to trace the dog's adoption back to an animal shelter in Abbotsford.
Gillespie said the police told him there isn't anything that can be done. The woman legally adopted the dog from the shelter.
He is hoping to find out exactly what happened to his dog and would like to get Cleo back.
"I'm very distraught at how my dog ended up in Abbotsford from Ladner," he said. "I want to know how this could happen."
Gillespie said he is considering legal action.
This is a tough one, emotionally. What do you think?
By Jessica Kerr, The Delta Optimist January 25, 2011
A Ladner family is looking for answers after its missing dog was found years later with a new owner.
Four years ago, Jamie Gillespie got up one morning to find his basement door open and his blue-heeler cross, Cleo, gone.
He said he called the local animal shelter and put missing dog posters up around town.
Cleo had a collar as well as an ear tattoo, so Gillespie said he assumed he would be contacted if the dog was brought to a shelter.
"I just didn't know what else to do, there was no sign of her," he said.
Last week as Gillespie was driving along Cambie Street in Vancouver he spotted a familiar looking dog tied up outside the Choices Market at 19th Avenue.
He stopped, approached the dog and said he was able to identify it as the missing Cleo by the deformed claw on its left front paw, something it had since birth.
"It was her, no question," Gillespie said.
He waited outside the store for the current owner to return and when she did, he started asking her questions about the dog.
Initially, Gillespie said the woman told him she got the dog from a friend six years ago, then he said he told her that the dog was his and had gone missing from his home four years ago.
"She didn't really want to talk to me anymore," he said.
Eventually, someone called police.
Gillespie said two officers arrived to deal with the situation and after getting his information and his side of the story, he was asked to leave the area.
The officers took the dog to a nearby vet to have the tattoo checked.
Cleo's tattoo was traced back to Gillespie's vet here in Ladner, but there was some confusion over one of the letters in the coded tattoo.
The mystery deepened when the vet's office was able to trace the dog's adoption back to an animal shelter in Abbotsford.
Gillespie said the police told him there isn't anything that can be done. The woman legally adopted the dog from the shelter.
He is hoping to find out exactly what happened to his dog and would like to get Cleo back.
"I'm very distraught at how my dog ended up in Abbotsford from Ladner," he said. "I want to know how this could happen."
Gillespie said he is considering legal action.
This is a tough one, emotionally. What do you think?
