A Jack Russel terrier named ToiBoi, who was wearing a microchip as identification, ran away from his Miramar, Florida home three years ago.
Happily, ToiBoi was reunited with his owner, Barbara Apostolo this past Wednesday at the Hollywood International Airport in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Amazingly, the dog ended up at a shelter in Louisiana. Employees, there, contacted the owner about her dog. What was amazing is the fact that the dog was over 1,000 miles from home!
The story serves as a reminder of another story I can recall. It happened about two years ago. I read about a dog who was named for film actor and now current governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The then eleven-year-old pooch turned up one day after being missing for two years. He had resided in Bantry, County Cork, Ireland and suddenly disappeared from owner Gillian Singleton’s garden one day. The dog, it was believed, who went by Arnie, or the shortened version of the governor’s first name, was taken for breeding purposes.
In spite of a full-blown search for Arnie, the dog could not be found. Needless to say, the owner’s children, Emily, age 6, and David, age 9, were heartbroken. However, during the search for Arnie, the Singletons did acquire a stray named Lucky who would not have survived without the intervention of the Singletons.
It was when the Singleton family was vacationing in Portugal that Arnie returned. The family was contacted by phone that a neighbor had witnessed a dog matching Arnie’s description watiting outside the Singleton’s home. When the family was reunited with the dog, they did confirm it was their beloved Arnie even though the dog had lost a good deal of weight and looked as though he’d received poor treatment by his captors.
Nevertheless, the good news remains. Arnie was reintroduced into the Singleton home as well as introduced to Lucky, the former stray.
Ironically, Arnie lived up to his namesake’s famous line in the movies. If he could have talked that day almost two years ago when he disappeared, you know he would’ve said, "I’ll be back!"