Taken, a recount!
!
It all started back in 2005 when we went up North, on a very special trip to get a new family
member, a puppy. I don’t remember the specific details, but we went to a murky barn off the beaten
path. There were many animal pens, each containing several delightful bouncing chocolate
puppies. I was handed my little monster, and the love was instant. He wriggled and squirmed in my
arms, and licked my face continuously until every square millimetre was covered in slobber! We
later realised the place we went to was not such a place you should get a dog from, it was a puppy
farm, where the animals are inbred, often made to produce 10’s of litters in their lifetime and due to
this, causing the offspring to develop health conditions alongside that. Our dog, who we named
Jack in the car on the way home, (we later found out) had epilepsy, but all the same, he was ours
and we were to look after him as best we can for his lovely long and happy life to come.!
!
It was nearing the end of a successful summer in August 2009, we had had Jack 4 years already,
and my family and I had had a lovely summer break. We lived next door to the local show ground,
where the dog show took place annually. We always went along with Jack, and being the playful
labrador he was, Jack always snatched the dog with the waggiest tail rosette from the judge,
making me a very proud dog owner. !
!
Jack had a habit of wondering out of our property and exploring, he had disappeared many times
before. So on september 7th 2009, one week after the dog show, Jack mysteriously vanished
without a trace, we weren't particularly worried. But as the days crept past and there had been no
sightings of him, we began to assume that he wasn't coming back. After a few months, we
concluded that somebody must have taken him in, and was looking after him. We hoped that one
day he would be taken to the vets due to his epilepsy and scanned, leading him back to us. But
thats far from the end of this story. We were so devastated with the loss of our beloved family dog,
we went ahead and got a new yellow labrador, from a reputable breeder down in Sussex who was
saddened at the loss of Jack and felt sorry for us. We called the new bright spark, George. !
!
George was always happy as larry, he greeted everybody who we met excitedly and hopped
around the house crazily, just as Jack did. It got to that time of year again, summer 2010 this time,
it was rising to 1 year since Jack disappeared. Once again, we poodled off together to the dog
show next door, to win the dog with the waggiest tail rosette. And we did fantastically, we ventured
back home that day feeling very proud and like the perfect pair. !
!
September 27th 2010. 1 year and 20 days since the disappearance of Jack. It was the middle of
the afternoon and my Grandma let George out into the garden for a run around. The garden was
accessible only via a side gate to our driveway and back gate to the rest of our property, neither
gates of which were open, or openable by a dog. She left him out there for less than 10 minutes,
and when she called him back in, he was gone. No trace. We assumed once again that George
had wondered off for a walk. But only when a couple of weeks had passed, did we confirm to
ourselves that the impossible had happened. There was no way George could’ve gotten out that
garden. He had not gone missing. He had been stolen, and Jack had too.!
!
!
It all started back in 2005 when we went up North, on a very special trip to get a new family
member, a puppy. I don’t remember the specific details, but we went to a murky barn off the beaten
path. There were many animal pens, each containing several delightful bouncing chocolate
puppies. I was handed my little monster, and the love was instant. He wriggled and squirmed in my
arms, and licked my face continuously until every square millimetre was covered in slobber! We
later realised the place we went to was not such a place you should get a dog from, it was a puppy
farm, where the animals are inbred, often made to produce 10’s of litters in their lifetime and due to
this, causing the offspring to develop health conditions alongside that. Our dog, who we named
Jack in the car on the way home, (we later found out) had epilepsy, but all the same, he was ours
and we were to look after him as best we can for his lovely long and happy life to come.!
!
It was nearing the end of a successful summer in August 2009, we had had Jack 4 years already,
and my family and I had had a lovely summer break. We lived next door to the local show ground,
where the dog show took place annually. We always went along with Jack, and being the playful
labrador he was, Jack always snatched the dog with the waggiest tail rosette from the judge,
making me a very proud dog owner. !
!
Jack had a habit of wondering out of our property and exploring, he had disappeared many times
before. So on september 7th 2009, one week after the dog show, Jack mysteriously vanished
without a trace, we weren't particularly worried. But as the days crept past and there had been no
sightings of him, we began to assume that he wasn't coming back. After a few months, we
concluded that somebody must have taken him in, and was looking after him. We hoped that one
day he would be taken to the vets due to his epilepsy and scanned, leading him back to us. But
thats far from the end of this story. We were so devastated with the loss of our beloved family dog,
we went ahead and got a new yellow labrador, from a reputable breeder down in Sussex who was
saddened at the loss of Jack and felt sorry for us. We called the new bright spark, George. !
!
George was always happy as larry, he greeted everybody who we met excitedly and hopped
around the house crazily, just as Jack did. It got to that time of year again, summer 2010 this time,
it was rising to 1 year since Jack disappeared. Once again, we poodled off together to the dog
show next door, to win the dog with the waggiest tail rosette. And we did fantastically, we ventured
back home that day feeling very proud and like the perfect pair. !
!
September 27th 2010. 1 year and 20 days since the disappearance of Jack. It was the middle of
the afternoon and my Grandma let George out into the garden for a run around. The garden was
accessible only via a side gate to our driveway and back gate to the rest of our property, neither
gates of which were open, or openable by a dog. She left him out there for less than 10 minutes,
and when she called him back in, he was gone. No trace. We assumed once again that George
had wondered off for a walk. But only when a couple of weeks had passed, did we confirm to
ourselves that the impossible had happened. There was no way George could’ve gotten out that
garden. He had not gone missing. He had been stolen, and Jack had too.!
!
