Bijoux update

(l. to r. - Pippa and Bijoux - Hindi's daughters, each from one of her two litters)
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Yesterday I called Radio 97.1 and gave them the information on Bijoux so they could make a free community announcement.

I also photocopied some 'Help us find our lost pet' flyers (containing her photo, description, name, my cellular phone number, etc.) and went driving around to put them up in establishments in the area.

I stopped at the stationery place (Office Express) and the cashier said in that drawn out doo-doo-darling kind of tone: "Doh worrrrrrrrrry. I go put this up for youuuuuu. I does love animal and I does go all out for them!" She related a story about a cat she had picked up once and ended off with "... and I does cook all the food for my dogs! I doh make joke with dat! Dey eatin' cook food!"

Everywhere I stopped to put up flyers, I was struck by how genuinely concerned the people were - all of them saying: "I hope you find her." It felt like a small network of kindness and awareness being built up in the environs.

Driving home past the Creative Arts centre on Gordon Street (not far from home), I noticed dogs lying under the cars in the carpark and went in to see if any were her. I stopped and told the guard at the gate: "I'm looking for a lost dog" and showed him the photo on the flyer.

"But eh-eh, I did see this dog here Monday on my shift! I sure is she. They always have dogs in here, but this one different and she had a collar."

He told me to look around the compound and ask the lady in the cafeteria. No luck.

Driving up St John Road, I stopped at a small grocery and asked the one female customer and man behind the counter if they had seen her (gave them the flyer).

"But ... that is the dog that just just came across on 97!" the woman exclaimed after reading the description. "The announcer just say it lost in the vicinity of St John Road!"

The man behind the counter said: "Lemme see?" He looked closely at the photo on the flyer. "But this is the dog that was in here just yesterday!" He went in the back and called out to a woman to show her the flyer.

I heard him ask her: "This is the dog that was in here yesterday?"

Her voice floated back: "It looking so ... only the one yesterday had more brown."

The picture was taken a few months ago and since then Bijoux's hair has (as my sister confirms) become more brown. Maybe it was her ...? All clues seem to be pointing to the fact that she could be wandering around the area, perhaps trying to make her way back home, but running scared again every time the (now daily) thunder rolls. We will keep our eyes peeled, our thoughts positive, our intuition sharp and the spirit of good old Nancy Drew, girl detective, by our sides.