PLEASE HELP Lost Our Dog in Phoenix Area

[Alan Greene]

For those creekers who live in the Phoenix AZ area please keep your eyes open for Cami our white, with tan highlights, Lhasa Apso. She had surgery on her tail a little while back and has other medical conditions that require medication. She was lost from her groomer/pet-sitters apartment on Monday evening, her young son opened the deadbolt for the first time as she was cooking dinner, while we were visiting my son and daughter-in-law before they both leave for Baghdad, Iraq and to see my grandson for the first time. We learned she was missing at the airport on the way home. Please check the following links to see her flyer or info. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP. We are trying to get her info out to as many people as possible. She is microchipped, did not have her collar on and is an extremely friendly "daughter".

http://www.pets911.com/services/lostandfound/animal_details.php?uniqueID=1350450&back=1

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/laf/393073831.html

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/pet/393560574.html

***If you know anyone in the Mesa, Tempe, Chandler. Phoenix AZ area could you please forward them this information. We are trying to get an e-mail chain going to get the widest possible flow of information. Thank You ***

A side note: Southwest airlines was fantastic getting us home. You can imagine our reaction to the news just in front of the airport entrance. The airline folks got us to the gate, boarded, and off the aircraft with tact, diplomacy and a deep respect for our loss. I can't thank them enough!!!

[Jon Shively]

Alan, I hope all turns out well. It is nice to hear of compassion by people in a large corporation. I doubt I see her in Indiana, but if I do, I'll notify you! Don't forget to call the shelters so they are on the look out and can forward someone that calls in. That happened to us a while back, my daughter had called the shelter and the next phone call after her was the people calling to say they had found this nice dog and wanted to keep her if she wasn't reported lost. Good luck.

[Doug Shepard]

Just emailed this to my sis who lives in Gilbert. Good luck finding her.

[Jim O'Dell]

Call all the local vet offices, and shelters. Scan the found ads, and place a lost ad, in the paper. Get friends to walk the streets around where the pet got loose. Talk to the mail man, delivery people, etc. Most likely someone has seen her. Go online to Petfinder.com for your area. Good luck!

[Fred Voorhees]

Alan, I feel for you. A beautiful dog for sure and I am sure a great freind. Good luck in finding the dog and bringing it back where it belongs.

[Don Bullock]

Alan,

I'm very sorry to hear about your lost dog. I sure hope you find her soon.

[Alan Greene]

We are still searching for Cami. The e-mails and support are very much appreciated.

Alan, Stephanie and Cami

[Alan Greene]

Again Thank You for the support. We had the canine rescue search dogs in late last week and discovered that Cami is still in the apartment complex and probably in one of two buildings (20 apartments). She is being walked out to a grassy area to take care of her business. So far no one has seen her or the individual who has decided to keep her and we have not been able to time our visits or stay long enough during those visits to see who it is. The consensus of the experts is that she is being taken care of if someone is going to such lengths to conceal her. She has more than likely been shaved or had a serious haircut so may look totally different. It was amazing watching the search dogs take us through her trail and how they reacted to the "freshness" of her scent. We keep looking and hopefully this will resolve soon.

[Leigh Costello]

Alan,
Keep your chin up, at least you know she is being taken care of. I hope you catch the person and I hope you let them know what they have put you through! Good Luck!

[Jim O'Dell]

Alan that is good news. But with that information, I would think the police would be able to get involved and do a door to door search. Some Humane Societies have investigators that have some powers as well. Might be worth looking into. And if no one has seen her, maybe they are only walking in the dark. You'd think if they were walking in the light that someone would have seen her. Maybe taking her to work with them in a soft carrier to conceal her. Would look like a big purse. Keep after it. Thanks for the update!! Jim.

[Jim O'Dell]

Another thought. LOML suggested a private investigator if the police won't get involved. I was thinking a college student with a video camera, but that might put that person in a bad position if the police took offense, or if the dog knapper saw them. If you are there, definately have a still or video camera to document what you see, AND DO NOT TRY TO STOP THE PERSON YOURSELF. With a picture the police can step in. If they won't, make a stink!
Better yet, can you tell I'm typing as I think?, Get the local TV people involved. We have a couple stations here locally that have some pretty hard nosed investigators that will stake out places just to make the story. They have a regular segment about the things they have come up with, and invite the public to send in ideas and tips. What news cast wouldn't love to lead with a story about finding a lost dog??? Jim.

[Alan Greene]

Jim, The police are not interested. I managed to get them to file a report, but the officer made it clear it was a waste fo her time and told me the report would be inactivated as soon as it was done. She didn't even take the information on the search by the certified dogs. I am going to pay a visit to the police department today and see what I can accomplish. It gets a lot harder to say no to a person who is standing in front of you who is being polite but very firm and has the search report in hand. I am going to retry the news outlets again with the search info. I will talk to the Humane society tomorrow when we make our pound search. Again thanks for all the help and suggestions.

[David G Baker]

Alan,
If you are going to try TV stations, contact them on the weekend because if there isn't a major news story going on locally they are desperate for any kind of story that may be of interest to the public. Weekends are really slow news days.

[Jim O'Dell]

Alan, is there so much crime there that they don't have time to deal with a theft? Each time you get a "no", ask to speak to their supervisor, right up to the Chief if you have to. There is no reason that they should not act on this. You have already done the hard part for them. I guess if you found the people, put them in a headlock and walked them to the police dept, then they would say, yeah, we've had them under surveilance for a couple weeks. Then bust you for disrupting an ongoing investigation.:rolleyes: I think the angle you want to play to the TV stations is that the police won't do anything with this. Then it becomes more than a lost dog...they get to go after the police, and hopefully make them look bad enough that the city council makes some changes! Jim.

[Leigh Costello]

Have you plastered the complex with lost dog fliers? Just a thought.

[Alan Greene]

We are going to the police tomorrow. We have put together a full time line of everything we have done etc. We will see what happens.

We had to take down the flyers in the apartment complex and cannot put any more up at this time. Basically it has to do with money. They just brought in a new manager to increase occupancy and the signs won't fly right now:( . I may not like this fact but I understand it. It is also important to note that this is a gated complex and we have been given access whenever we want to try find her and any other assistance the manager can give except for the signs:) . You cannot enter or leave the complex though without seeing a large sign with all of Cami's information and a picture of her large enough to be seen by a car going past at 45 mph.

Thank you again for all the suggestions and ideas. We are using them all.

[Ryan Cathey]

I know it's only been a few days since you last posted but any new news?

[Alan Greene]

We had a "possible" sighting of Cami 2 days ago. A follow up revealed that it was probably not her, but there is enough doubt to keep checking. A lady called about two dogs one a terrier and the other looked like Cami might with a short haircut. The description of the two people half matched what I observed which was a couple who had two terriers, the woman with dirty blond hair in a pony tail and the man described as non-descript, thin with dark hair. The couple I observed at the same time the next day matched except for the man who had blond, permed hair.

I have also made some acquaintances in the complex, including a disabled police detective and a retired GI who are actively looking for Cami as well.
Talked to the police again today, a supervisor. Basically the bottom line is that they will not be doing anything to help unless we come up with Cami and/or a viable suspect. Even though we have a lot of detailed information it is not enough to get a warrant or for them to put any manpower on. We did get them to believe she is stolen not just lost.

We are starting to believe that she has been moved out of the apartments until things calm down. They don't understand just how determined I can be and we will continue looking at different times of the day and night for a while. We are working on a new plan that includes getting the search dogs involved again. They are trained to tell the handler if the dog they are tracking goes into a car. Something to do with the way the scent ends. I want to go around the full parking lot to see if the search dogs pickup her scent by, or going into any cars. The apartment has all of the parking spaces numbered and assigned to each apartment. We may back off for a week before we do that.

Again Thank You all for the help, suggestions and concern. Believe me, it is much appreciated and helps sustain us in the search.

[Ryan Cathey]

I really hope you find her. I couldn't stand losing either one of my dogs. My black lab has been with me since i was 6 (I'm 16 now). Good luck!!!!!

[Jim O'Dell]

Keep at it Alan. All the hard work will pay off. Jim.