April 5, 2006
MSNBC
St. Joseph County, IN - After their dog was lost back in 2001, Holly and Troy Webb forgot about her. They figured someone had picked her up, or worse.
However, last week they received a call. It was a call that surprised them.
At first, the Webb's said "no", they didn't have a lost dog because it had been so long since they saw their lhasa apso, named Gidget.
Photo: However, four years and seven months later, Gidget has been found, after she had been abandoned at South Bend Animal Control
However, when South Bend Animal Control said they had found their dog, they were shocked.
SURPRISING PHONE CALL
"We were used to her wandering, never wandered too far away. She always came back home, no problem, but that day, she didn't come back," says Holly Webb, who reminisced about the day Gidget vanished.
The family searched. They even placed an ad in the newspaper, but thought the worst.
Eight-and-a-half-year-old Gidget was inherited from Holly's late mother-in-law.
"We thought maybe she got hurt or something, but nobody called, or anything like that," says Holly.
That is, until last Tuesday.
The person on the other line said, "We have your dog down here. And we go, 'we don't have a dog'. At that point, we just didn't have a dog anymore. They go, 'you don't have a dog named Gidget?', and I go, 'Gidget? That was almost five-years ago'," exclaimed Holly.
"When I saw her, it was like seeing a ghost," says Troy Webb.
But, there she was. Their little lhasa apso, dirty and matted, but healthy.
"(She was) matted so much, it was pulling her toenails apart. (Her) toenails were about three-inches long."
Animal Control traced Gidget back to the Webb's, using her vet tag.
"(They were) the same collar, same tags I put on her eight-years ago," says Holly.
Gidget had been missing four years and seven months in all. However, she soon got used to her old home, even Shalimar, the cat, which is now, her new playmate.
Gidget, who is now 12 or 13-years-old, obviously moves slower today, but that is ok with the Webb's.
"If she just wants to be a lap dog, that's fine with me, too," said Troy.
ABANDONED
The Webb's believe someone had their dog. She had been fed, but not groomed.
South Bend Animal Control said Gidget had been abandoned, tied to the front door of their animal shelter.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12175230/