This story ends happily. Thank you to everyone who helped, who spread the word and posted flyers. Thank you to the kind lady who took such good care of Astor while he was lost. And special thanks to Lost Dogs NL/BE for the great support. This is the story in pictures:
Astor was for a moment without a leash in the park and decided to play hide and seek. He just did not come back. We took every measure, called the vet, the shelters, the dog trimmer. We posted flyers and got a Facebook campaign started. We tweeted to the newspapers, TV and radio.
Friends helped to spread flyers throughout the days he was gone. One of the days was Sunday, the car-free day in Brussels with many people on the streets.
Meanwhile, Astor was found by a couple at The Hotel. They loved him so much that they brought him with them to the seaside where they lived. Once there, they realized they wouldn’t be able to take care of him so they contacted a lady they knew who’s dog had recently passed away. They asked if she would want to take care of him. She fell in love with him at the first glance. But she knew she had to take him to the vet to see if he had an owner. And via Astor’s identity chip, they identified him and called us immediately.
One community truly stood out in their support for Astor’s case. That was Lost Dogs BE/NL. They posted the ad on Astor missing on their Facebook page and Facebook group. This mobilized an entire network of caring people. Over 100 shares through this page. Sjoerd Van Nooten, the manager, was utterly helpful and encouraging. Offering not only kind words but also to help create flyers. He kept the community informed at all time with a thorough follow up.
When we got the call. Bruna took the train to Koksijde with a box of chocolates and flowers. The lady had taken such good care of Astor and he was even a little chubbier than usual. She was a kind soul. And in the evening Astor was back home. Auntie Mina couldn’t be happier.
Astor then makes the headlines of Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad! Paul Demeyer, journalist at the Nieuwsblad called me as soon as he heard the news and wanted to know all about the happy story.
***THE END***
Afterword:
I found myself in a situation unknown. Every day dogs go missing, cats and people (!). Where do you turn to? Especially when you are a foreigner in a country where you do not properly speak the language. Ok in my case, I do not speak one of the two official languages…
But there should be one central European community where any individual easily can go and search for links to helpful pages, shelters etc. A community that is not bound by language barriers. This cannot be an impossible task? When we talk about harmonizing across EU countries. These are also things we should be working to solve. And this is NOT a resource heavy task. So I hereby call for all enablers and pet-lovers out there to get in touch so we can get this rolling. We need to:
- Connect key people who can help support in each country
- Establish a community online
- Enable them to collaborate by building an online platform
Or perhaps there is already something being worked on? Or something already exists which I had no clue about? I am curious to know.
For a community to support missing people, what exists? Is everything locked within institutional servers?
…And whomever invented the identity chip for pets – should have included a GPS…
Mina The Legend 