If you are not a “dog person” you might as well turn the page.
But if you are one of those who consider your dog, be he or she a purebred or mixed breed, an important member of your family, you’ll understand the ongoing heartache of Tom Brugnaux of Poland/Boardman and Cindi Hamrock of Austintown who care for each other and who both loved — love — Remi.
Remi, short for Remington, has been missing since last June 15.
Missing
A picture of the brown and white springer spaniel has been posted on the Internet, in veterinarians’ offices, craigslist, police stations and more. Road departments were included in the wide sweep.
His “lost” advertisement has appeared in virtually every newspaper in the immediate area and some not in the immediate area. A reward of $1,000 is promised for Remi’s return. Not long ago, an additional $1,000 was offered by a friend of Tom’s and Cindi’s.
While the ad was just lately discontinued in the local daily paper, it continues — without charge — in the Boardman News.
Checking the lost and found ads in the daily paper is a must for me, even more so than the obituaries! When I recently discovered the ad for Remi was missing, after appearing all summer, all fall, and almost all winter, I had to know if he had been found or the owner had just given up.
Going through my box of newspapers to be recycled I found one containing the ad and called the telephone numbers — 330-757-0378, 330-755-3269 and 330-720-2043 — and eventually talked to both Tom and Cindi.
One more shot
I told them I’d give them one more shot, that Farm and Dairy has a wide circulation of mostly readers involved with animals one way or another, and if Remi were “out there” someone would know. He was wearing his collar and all his tags the day he seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Remi’s story
In brief, the story goes like this.
Remi was a rescue, having been found tied to a tree and unsocialized and in dire need of care. He was just a puppy, about 4 months old, and Tom and Cindi could not resist.
Remi was shy and insecure, but gradually developed into a great pet, playing with toys, responding to all the affection he could get.
Last June 15, Tom had to work a long day and telephoned a neighbor to ask if he’d go to let Remi, now 4 years old, out for a potty break. No problem as Remi very much knew his own yard.
But for some unknown reason, Remi would not come when he was called, and took off in the cul-de-sac area in which Tom lives. Other neighbors joined the search party — Tom came home of course — and the more hubbub there was the more the shy dog would have been frightened, Tom reasons.
Nothing of Remi has ever been found. Which leads Tom and Cindi to believe someone managed to catch him and has taken him from this area — or surely, a $1,000 reward should be enough to coax the perpetrator into returning the dog.
Can you help?
It is the not knowing that hurts the most. Can Farm and Dairy readers solve this mystery?
Meanwhile, Tom’s new springer spaniel — he could not live without a dog (don’t I know about that!) — was also a rescue. And even though Tom is not a hunter, “Shooter” is filling the void until Remi comes home.
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New Castle, Pa., artist Susan Dexter who did lifelike portraits of Pinkie and Taggie and Ori and Sister for me, keeps in touch whenever something fun happens to her (like getting her horse, Cash) and recently I got such a nice “fun” thing from her.
She is the new “mother” of Misty, a beautiful collie who was among others rescued from a Toledo-area situation. It seems the owners were having health problems and couldn’t care for their two outside/garage collies, one of whom (Misty) had recently had puppies.
Susan sent me a copy of the Northeast Ohio Collie rescue newsletter, showing a very contented Misty sleeping under Susan’s Christmas tree.
* * *
Quotations
These quotations were with an amusing Internet story sent by a friend and I liked both of them:
Be kinder than necessary … everyone you meet is fighting some kind of a battle.
Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, Leave the rest to God …
