Reader's Tails
Dunkin’s Lucky Day
Fate helps a sweet dog find his home
By David Bradburn
Several months ago a neighborhood family came knocking on my door to tell me their dog, a 3-year-old black Labrador named Dunkin, was missing. It was nine o’clock at night and I immediately joined them and many other neighbors on an impromptu search of the area. Finding a black dog at night is tricky, and we were not successful. Soon, posters sprung up around town with photos of Dunkin and requests for anyone who had seen him to please call his guardians. I assumed he was either stolen or killed and reflected on how sad it was that they had lost their dog; their children were especially devastated, as you can imagine.
About ten days later, a number of things happened. First, I made plans to work from home so I could finish some writing that is normally hard to complete with all the distractions of office life. My wife, too, was home that morning because she had an appointment nearby. Just after 9:15 a.m. my wife called me from her cell phone to say she just spotted a black Labrador lying in the front yard of a newly constructed home near the center of town. She thought it might be Dunkin, although like me, was skeptical because of the amount of time that had passed. If it was Dunkin, he had been living outdoors for ten days.
Had I been at my office that morning I would not have been there to answer my wife’s call, or to jump in my car, as I did, to investigate the area where Gabriela spotted this dog. I arrived to find a black Labrador standing on three legs, an injured leftfront paw in the air. I parked and got out of my car as the dog proceeded to hobble away from me. “Dunkin, is that you?” I called out, to which the dog stopped and turned to look over his shoulder in my direction. I again called his name and also “Good boy” and “Come here, Dunkin” for good measure. As I got closer he resumed his hobbling to get away from me.
I spied a homeowner close by and called for him to help me restrain the dog. He was kind enough to oblige. We inspected his tags and, sure enough, it was Dunkin. Despite his injured paw, he was wagging his tail and licking me all over. He seemed really happy to be with someone who knew him, even if it wasn’t that well. I was trying to figure out how I was going to transport this big animal in my small, clean car, especially when he had an injured front leg and three muddy paws. I cringed, said to myself, "Screw it,” opened the back door to my car and Dunkin leapt in without being asked. He was obviously ready to go home.
I took him straight to the vet near my house and called his guardians to let them know Dunkin was safe. The vet inspected their dog and said the injured paw was not serious.
I’m still amazed by the experience. There are not too many times in our life when we recognize that we are in the right place at the right time. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to rescue Dunkin. I feel a mix of shock, for finding an animal I believed was gone for good, and euphoria, for knowing one family in my community was on cloud nine after being reunited with their pet.
The final twist to this story is that awhile back my dog Hamish escaped through the invisible fence in our backyard, the first and only time he’s done so. We didn’t even know he was gone until some people came to our door one night with Hamish in their arms saying they found him wandering the streets. It was Dunkin’s family.
About ten days later, a number of things happened. First, I made plans to work from home so I could finish some writing that is normally hard to complete with all the distractions of office life. My wife, too, was home that morning because she had an appointment nearby. Just after 9:15 a.m. my wife called me from her cell phone to say she just spotted a black Labrador lying in the front yard of a newly constructed home near the center of town. She thought it might be Dunkin, although like me, was skeptical because of the amount of time that had passed. If it was Dunkin, he had been living outdoors for ten days.
Had I been at my office that morning I would not have been there to answer my wife’s call, or to jump in my car, as I did, to investigate the area where Gabriela spotted this dog. I arrived to find a black Labrador standing on three legs, an injured leftfront paw in the air. I parked and got out of my car as the dog proceeded to hobble away from me. “Dunkin, is that you?” I called out, to which the dog stopped and turned to look over his shoulder in my direction. I again called his name and also “Good boy” and “Come here, Dunkin” for good measure. As I got closer he resumed his hobbling to get away from me.
I spied a homeowner close by and called for him to help me restrain the dog. He was kind enough to oblige. We inspected his tags and, sure enough, it was Dunkin. Despite his injured paw, he was wagging his tail and licking me all over. He seemed really happy to be with someone who knew him, even if it wasn’t that well. I was trying to figure out how I was going to transport this big animal in my small, clean car, especially when he had an injured front leg and three muddy paws. I cringed, said to myself, "Screw it,” opened the back door to my car and Dunkin leapt in without being asked. He was obviously ready to go home.
I took him straight to the vet near my house and called his guardians to let them know Dunkin was safe. The vet inspected their dog and said the injured paw was not serious.
I’m still amazed by the experience. There are not too many times in our life when we recognize that we are in the right place at the right time. I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to rescue Dunkin. I feel a mix of shock, for finding an animal I believed was gone for good, and euphoria, for knowing one family in my community was on cloud nine after being reunited with their pet.
The final twist to this story is that awhile back my dog Hamish escaped through the invisible fence in our backyard, the first and only time he’s done so. We didn’t even know he was gone until some people came to our door one night with Hamish in their arms saying they found him wandering the streets. It was Dunkin’s family.
