What a story! Dogster Zita was lost for two years and has now been found!
Dear Dogster…if you want happy endings, here is one you won’t believe.
My name is “zita” and I am a guide dog in Israel. i had a diary here over two years ago. However, in March 2006, I got lost. This last Thursday (Jan. 2008!) I was found. Don’t you think that this is a wonderful story that others might want to know about???
And here is Zita’s story:
Zita Has Been Found!
26 January 2008 at 9:37 a.m.What more an appropriate entry to this diary, which has been ignored for so long, than with the ecstatic news of the recovery of Zita.
The story is related to my trip to Vietnam, which will be recounted here, eventually, as you will see forthwith.
So here is the story, step by miraculous step.
The day I left Vietnam (actually, I was in Bangkok, since that is where my flight home originated), Mr. Intrepid Traveler (MIT, for short) noticed three missed calls on his cellphone. Now, this cellphone number is not one that anyone usually calls, since it is my old number of some years ago. MIT just uses it when we travel, since we can open it to overseas calls, and, more importantly, no one uses this number anymore, so we are not bothered by useless (expensive) calls when we are overseas. It is really just for the kids’ emergencies, should there be.
Anyways, being in Beit Habad, where there is a free landline to Israel, MIT decided that persistence should be rewarded, and decided to take advantage of the free phone and call this number back. Turns out it was the animal control (AC) center in my city, advising that a dog by the name of Zita, whose microchip number was listed as a missing dog, turned up at a vet for a rabies shot and change of ownership. The AC officer advised the vet to take details of the would-be owner, but not to give him ownership! And thus the call to my number, which had been given, four years ago, as Zita’s owner.
You can imagine my amazement Wednesday evening, when I turned on my phone upon arrival in Israel and saw an SMS: Zita has been found! Check your emails! Urgent!!! My hairs stood on end, and I shivered! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!
The kids, meanwhile, had also been phoned (from Bangkok), and had printed out above-mentioned email, so when I met them shortly later at the airport, they presented me with the wonderful details, and the telephone number of the person at AC to contact.
The moment I got home, I phoned Orna to tell her of this wonderful news. It was too late in the evening to call AC (even though I tried, just in case). Next morning, I couldn’t wait till 7:30 when I could phone them. I was told that a boy from Yaffo (name and phone number supplied) had taken a dog to a vet (name and phone number supplied). The boy claimed that he had found the dog four years ago (! – Zita went missing on March 11, 2006) on the beach in Yaffo, and has been caring for her and loving her since. The name I was given was an Israeli sounding name (Udi). However, she also had a sobering message for me: Don’t be surprised if, when you go to recover the dog, it has “disappeared.”
I phoned the IGDCB with the details and left it in her hands. She called me later that afternoon with the wonderful update. Later that afternoon, accompanied by Zita’s “owner” and some police, the director of the IGDCB found where Zita was, and reclaimed her!
Zita was back!
Although I am not sure of the full details, it seems that she wasn’t living in a home all this time, but had been kept on the premises of a car garage, where the boy worked, since his mom wouldn’t let the dog in the house. And the boy’s name wasn’t “Udi” – it was another, Arabic, name.
Yesterday afternoon, (Friday) Od and I drove over to see Zita at the center. )Here are some pictures from the meeting (not so great, so sorry about that!) She looks fine, and definitely knew me. We had only a short time to meet, as they were just locking up for lunch break, but it was so wonderful to see her again.
After a bit of time to settle in, she will probably be given a refresher course, and then, after two years of uncertainty and desperation, Zita will, hopefully, be back in the harness, to fulfill her destiny.
To see Zita’s online diary, go here.
UPDATE: Monday Jan 28: Well,,,,if this doesn’t prove that truth is stranger than fiction:
I spoke to Dani (the blind guy) Friday and he told me all about the rescue. (They went to two separate areas at the same time, with two cops). Zita obviously recognized him, but they still took the microchip reader to “make sure” and prove that she was their dog.
Zita had not really been with a loving family…she had been tied up most of the time in a garage (repair place for cars, not the thing next to the house whre you park your car). However, she didn’t seem the worse for wear, and was friendly and relaxed. She was in good shape….not dirty or skinny.
