Once upon a time,
in an enchanting cottage, on an Island, surrounded by the
waters where
the salmon frolic and the whales play, lived a little
white "princess" in the lap of luxury. Not
only was this "princess" an award winner at
local(and National) Beauty contests, but she also
spent some of her spare time as the mascot and
participant with her Flamenco Musician and
Flamenco Dancer friends at local community events. Her
every wish was catered to, she had
her own personal cook, her lovely coat was bathed and
styled to perfection, she traveled and
saw the countryside with her mistress extensively, she
had plenty of play friends to run and
romp with, tons of belly-rubs and kisses. This little
white "Princess" lack nothing….except for
one thing she wished with all her heart…to lay her
head and snuggle with her Master and
Mistress on the red satin bedspread as they slept at
night. But alas, that was not to be.
Although her own room and bed was very comfortable and
certainly fit for a princess, she could
not understand her Master's rule about no
"dogs" on the bed. Especially since THAT
CAT…the
dingy color coated stray that came with the cottage, that
in short time had the Master
"wrapped around his paws" has claimed the red
satin bedspread as his own domain.
Someday, thought the little white princess, she will get
even with THAT CAT…she will be
patience and wait for the chance to ariseOne warm fall afternoon, the little
white princess laid basking in the sunshine, while Master
and
Mistress worked in the garden, she opened her eyes just
in time to see THAT CAT on the front
sidewalk through the accidentally left opened front gate.
This was her chance to get THAT
CAT….off she shot, lickakey split ..through the
gate, down the street, block after block…she
was gaining on THAT CAT…then! THAT CAT disappeared
over a fence…Dang! she
thought…….almost had him. As she turned to head
back home, the little white princess,
realized that nothing seemed familiar….she did not
know where she was…..she was LOST
Dancer, (known here as
the little white princess, ) disappeared from our yard on
Tuesday Oct
16th and even though she was spotted right away, they
were unable to catch her. On Wed Oct
17th Dancer was sighted in the summit area of Victoria
but since then …no news…We were
out searching everyday..Posters were being nailed on
every available space, we alerted the
media, flyers were sent to all the Vet clinics, groomers
and other dog organizations and clubs.
The SPCA was phoned 3 times a day, and I would go in
person at least 3 times a week to
check. The Victoria Pound was checked by Bob Yocom on his
way home each day from
helping search for Dancer in town.
More flyers were spread out over the city with the
suggestion from an animal communicator ,
who thought Dancer was in a run-down large apt. complex
perhaps being held by a person who
was a drinker and frequent the bars at night. Dick
McAllister put flyers up in all the old apt
buildings and talked to many hotel managers to get
permission to put flyers in the washrooms,
etc. He also spoke to street kids and told them of the
large reward.
12th day out on her own, with no sighting of her until
Sunday Oct 28th ……That day, a scruffy
shivering small dog was seen sitting in a compost box of
a neighbour to Patty Dewhurst..this
kind lady ran with her cell phone to the pole with the
flyer for the # to phone us and we were
there in 10 minutes. this was in the Blackwood, Vista
Heights area…about 4 blocks from
home, across busy Hillside St. ( a main artery of
Victoria). We scoured the neighbourhood,
looking under porches etc., in all the
backyards….they all connect with very large
backyards
back to back stretching from Blackwood S to the next
street Prior. Dancer was then sighted
by a man, Monday evening near the reservoir on
Blackwood…on Tuesday morning, Patti
spotted her coming out of her neighbours yard on
Blackwood…Patti called her name and she
went running back into the yard. After her call we were
there in 5 minutes but no
avail……previous to this we had a call from a
limousine driver, who on his way home from work
at 2:30 AM saying he had seen a little scruffy scared dog
around the back of the apartment
block on Hillside between Prior and Blackwood….All
these people have seen us with our
Bichons walking the streets calling Dancer, so they knew
what we were looking for…..then she
was sighted playing with a construction workers Lab pup
Tues day afternoon. Dancer is not
coming to anyone, so at last resort I'm contemplating
renting a live animal trap. I did set up a
vari kennel with food and my pillow case for scent in the
yard where she was first sighted in the
compost box. My husband and I sit in the yard at night
with a Bichon with us but all we saw
was cats ( the folks who own the home are away on
vacation)
Nov 1st ….Saanich Rentals called..they have a live
animal trap available for us to rent. that
afternoon, Pat and I placed the trap, in which I placed a
very large knuckle bone in the back of
it, under the porch in the house Dancer had been spotted
at. We checked the trap at 8:00 and
10:00 PM that evening.The following morning, we got up
early and checked the trap at 6:20 AM
and there before our unbelieving eyes was a very dirty
Bichon, chewing on her bone!!!!! I took
the cage, with her in it, home to our kitchen before
opening the cage door……Out she came
wagging her tail!!!!!
Dancer was lost for 17
days, about 5 blocks from home, being sighted only a few
times in that
time slot. I guess Bichons live up to their reputation of
being of long ago.…little street
dogs…….Ch Craigdale Flamenco Dancer has lived
up to her name …the little gypsy
Well I'm sure
glad to be back home( even if THAT CAT is still here) I
guess the Master and the
Mistress must have really missed me cos' you know where
I'm sleeping at night?….you
guessed it ..on the red satin bedspread cuddled up with
my master and mistress !
Isn't life grand!!
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