Despite all she’s gone through, this girl still keeps smiling.
LaShena Harris was completely devastated when someone stole her English bulldog puppy out of her yard back in 2006. She did everything to find her, but never thought she’d see her again. The tale of how she got her back again is almost too good to be true!
“I don’t want to use hyperbole. … It is like (Fatcat) was somehow meant to get back to this owner,” said Kerry Sneed, director of the Arkansas animal shelter where Fatcat was dropped off after being found on the street two weeks ago. “This is a really great feel-good story… It is the most extreme return-to-owner that I’ve ever come across.”
When little Fatcat went missing from her Memphis, Tennessee backyard, her panic-struck owner filed a police report, searched all the nearby neighborhoods, and plastered the area with fliers. But for eight long years, nothing. Until one day… well, you’ll just have to read it in LaShena’s own words:
Meet Cashmere (also known as Fatcat) my English Bulldog, 8 YEARS ago I decided to move to Memphis and upon arriving I took her to a local groomer, and 3 weeks later for another groom.
While she was being groomed I purchased her a new collar so upon our return home I placed her in my backyard and ran in the house to grab it (3 mins to be exact)….I came outside and there I saw a truck speeding off…..Fatcat was GONE.
She even used to smile through bathtime!
Someone from the groomer had set me up and I was pissed….. called the cops, there was nothing that could be done because I hadn’t seen the person that took her…She was micro-chipped but without knowing where she was located, I was screwed.
I boo-hooed for 2 weeks, placed ads, reward signs everything possible, but I knew in my heart she was gone. I prayed that whoever took her would take care of her and wouldn’t kill her trying to breed her (I was always approached out in the street with her because an all white bulldog is rare and as some may not know they require C-Sections to birth their babies).
Nothing ever turned up and life moved on…and 6 or 7 months later I relocated back to AZ.
Thursday morning my mom gets a call from the AKC rescue saying someone had turned my dog in to the local animal shelter and they NEVER get English Bulldog surrenders so they scanned her and she came back to me.
Overjoyed isn’t the word…shocked, speechless, I cried like a baby at hearing she was found…..but of course I knew if someone had turned her in, it was because they were done with her.
I explained to the woman from the shelter (Carrie – who’s been awesome btw) what happen with her being stolen and how long it’s been and asked her what would her recommendation for her be?
And as suspected, she’s in bad shape, mostly due to negligence – she has heart-worm disease, cataract, her teeth are bad, she’s been excessively bred, her, she has lumps in her breast and her tail is in bad shape.
She said she was older and she could find a rescue place to put her in until it was time to put her down or I could come get her myself. Well after researching I found that she couldn’t fly back with me on the plane due to her size and that she would have to be placed below the plane with luggage and other pets etc… just a stressful situation overall for her. So while I was ecstatic that she had been found….or thrown away depending on how you look at it, I was also angry at the fact these idiots took her, used her literally as a cash cow, and didn’t even have the decency to keep her healthy in the process with regular vet visits and grooming. Now the decision was placed on me as the owner to put her down.
I told Carrie to give me day to decide and I would contact her. I tried calling her back Sat, then Sunday and finally on Monday I was able to reach her, with tears in my eyes I told her that I had made the decision to put her down and I that I think it would be the best thing for her…. (She has a young teenager at home, and her employer would not give her time off to go pick up the dog herself.)
Then she drops a bomb on me, telling me she spoke to a friend of hers the night before and they’re relocating to Scottsdale and they’ve agreed to bring her to me if I want her back…
*instant tears flowing again*
DO I WANT HER BACK????????? OF COURSE I’LL TAKE HER BACK….they’re leaving Memphis today heading my way.
Finally – on her way home!
I know she’s older now but once here I’ll have her checked out and proceed from there.
I know this is going to be expensive and while I don’t like asking anyone for anything, let alone strangers, I know it wasn’t just fate that led Fatcat back home to me, we’re meant to be together after all these years.
I came up with the amount listed above based on calling a couple of vet offices to inquire about labs, dental work and the examination for the lumps in her mammary glands and the treatment for her heartworm disease.
You don’t know me but now you know my story, any help is greatly appreciated.
Shocked and overjoyed to be reunited!
How do you show gratitude to someone you’ve never met? A complete stranger, yet someone you will forever be indebted to and will never forget? Even if I don’t have FatCat home for as long (in terms of her entire lifespan), I feel like the luckiest person in the world right now, I’m just glad she’s finally HOME.
If you would like to donate to Fatcat/Cashere – Fatcashmere’s – medical fund, please CLICK HERE.
“I think the moral to this story is never lose hope or give up – timing is everything. Have your pet microchipped,” LaShena said. “They now make them with GPS locators in them, which would have helped me avoid this tragedy. And when the stars are aligned, anything is possible.”
Happy to be together again at last.
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