On Sunday evening, Danielle Dyson took advantage of the recent warmer weather and walked her dog, Dotty, to the Provigo at Cavendish and Saint-Jacques.
She only needed a few things and tied-up Dotty outside the store. When Dyson finished shopping a short while later, her dog was nowhere to be seen - leash included.
“She was gone. Just vanished. The leash was gone, she had been untied,” said Dyson. “I didn’t have a sense she had run away.”
Dyson took to social media for help and spoke with security at the store. Her social media efforts garnered roughly two thousand shares in about 24-hours. That prompted a witness to come forward on Facebook saying that a couple had come and taken the dog into their car and then left the scene.
Security video from the store confirmed the witness account, but there were no other leads.
“Did someone steal this dog to sell it and that was kind of my concern at first,” Dyson asked. “Or did someone ‘rescue’ this dog and take it home because they thought it was abandoned?”
As if losing her dog wasn’t enough, Dyson endured much criticism from random strangers and Internet trolls who were all too eager to point fingers and lay blame.
About twenty-four agonizing hours later Dyson’s spirits got a boost from a woman in LaSalle.
“Last night someone contacted me and said that she thinks the dog is across the street from her house and that it’s a very kind couple and they had just come home with this rescue and it looks exactly like my dog.”
After dropping her 12-year-old son off at school Tuesday morning, Dyson drove to LaSalle hoping for a reunion with Dotty. CJAD 800 spoke with Dyson moments after she arrived at the couple’s home and yes, this story has a happy ending.
"I am standing on the front porch reunited with my my dog and you know what? She looks amazing. They took such good care of her. They are giving her treats, they gave her a nice bath. They brushed her out," gushed Dyson.
With Dotty and her human reunited, Dyson wanted to reassure the online troll and curmudgeon communities that she learned a valuable lesson.
"I just want everyone to know I won't be leaving my dog outside the store anymore."
In the meantime, the couple who "rescued" Dotty told Dyson they may now have to get a dog of their own because their kids "fell in love" with the pooch.