About two months ago, a middle-aged man came to the Society in order to adopt a dog. As part of the standard adoption procedure, the man met with an adoption counselor who found that the man was not responsible enough and would be unsuitable as an adoptive candidate. Following some argument and raised voices, the man was forced to leave (for reasons concerning privacy rights, we will not publish the counselor’s considerations in the case).
A short time later, we discovered that Pegasus, a charming, six-months-old, mixed-breed puppy was missing from his cage. Upon checking the security cameras, it became evident that the same man had broken through the fence into the Society, gone to the department where Pegasus lived, kidnapped him and disappeared very quickly.
The sequence of events was published on the Society’s Facebook page along with the clip filmed by the security camera, and the story aroused much interest in the virtual arena. Many surfers offered to help identify the burglar and also notified us of any dog resembling Pegasus that they came across. At the same time, the Society notified the Police about the case, but nothing helped and for over two months nothing was heard about Pegasus or what had happened to him.
Good news reached us a few days ago through a young couple who had seen Pegasus wandering around the Naveh Yamit neighborhood in Rehovot, near the highway. The couple took the dog to a vet in order to locate his owners by means of its electronic chip, but since Pegasus didn’t have a chip (the Society’s dogs have electronic chips inserted only when they are taken for adoption), the couple posted Pegasus’s picture on their Facebook profile in the hope of finding his owners through the social media.
As fate would have it, a member of the Society staff came across Pegasus’s photo and identified him immediately, even though two months had gone by since he had disappeared and he had grown since then. The Society staff contacted the couple who brought Pegasus back to the Society, alive and well. It is difficult to guess how long Pegasus had been left to wander around the streets and when exactly he was abandoned, but finding him in this way just supported the Society’s decision as to the suitability of the man who had come to adopt a pet.
Now Pegasus, eight months old, is looking for a stable and safe home with responsible owners who will be able to give him the love he deserves.
This case teaches us how important the Society’s adoption policies, termed “Responsible Adoption”, actually are. As an organization dealing with the ugly phenomenon of animal abandonment on a daily basis, we always place animal welfare at the head of our order of priorities. We give animals out for adoption only when we are convinced that they are promised a good life with responsible owners, who genuinely intend to raise them for the duration of their lives and will be able to provide them with all their needs.
If Pegasus’s story has touched your hearts and you are sure that you are able to offer him a warm home, please contact us at: *4553.
