On Tuesday,
June 4, 2019, at approximately 1000 hours, I received a phone call notifying me
that a dog was outside the library and that she was missing an owner. "Uh,
oh," I thought as I stood up from my desk and walked outside. This sort of
problem was not covered in library school.
I could see
that the dog, we'll call her Houdini, was a black Labrador Retriever covered in
water and mud. She had on a purple collar with no identification. Did she have
a microchip? She was friendly which indicated to me that she was probably
someone's pet and that someone might want her back.
How do I
approach finding the owner? I had to think. Standard Operating Procedure would
require me to call Animal Control. I did not want to do this.
Fortunately,
my staff had some experience in this area. We got Houdini some water, took a
couple of pictures of her and posted her on the Facebook Rankin County,
Mississippi Lost and Found Pets Only page.
And, then,
we waited. I can only imagine how the owner must have felt to be going about
her daily routine far from home, and then to check the internet and find that
her dog, Houdini, had escaped from home, had been running through the
neighborhood, and had been spotted at the Flowood Library. The owner arrived at
the library a few hours later after the initial posting, but Houdini was gone.
Many years
ago if a pet had gone missing, one could post flyers on telephone poles and
hope someone had seen their pet. How things have changed. Now we have social
media. But, social media would not be enough to solve this problem. Other
methods would have to be considered to return Houdini to her owner.
I remembered
that Houdini had last been seen sitting outside with a patron at the library. I
also remembered that this patron had been the one to call me earlier in the day
to let me know that Houdini was outside in the first place. I still had her
number on my telephone, on my Caller I.D. in my office.
I made the
call and left a message. She called me back.
Houdini had
indeed followed her home. I also had a report through social media that Houdini
had been spotted near the Pump It Up gas station off of Old Fannin Road.
I gave her
the name and number of the owner of the dog. I also got her contact
information.
Within the
hour Houdini was located by the patron, she called the owner, and the owner
retrieved her dog.
Social media
and a little detective work, 12 comments and 82 shares on Facebook. This
problem was solved in seven hours. For the owner it was probably a very long
seven hours. I would like to extend a thank you for everyone who participated
in returning Houdini to her owner.
As for
Houdini, I'm sure she has a story to tell all her friends, about her adventures
at the Flowood Library and her travels through the local neighborhoods.
I'm also sure
she is planning her next escape.
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