Jackie the dog's happy ending, the details

In the end, it was a local couple who took Jackie the dog.

They returned the aging, deaf canine, but not until news reports of Laura and Tai's desperation aired across the Phoenix metropolitan area.

They had Jackie, 15, a week. They had taken her to the vet, bought her special food and were about to build a new doggie door for her.

In short, they were simply going to keep her.

Yes, the story has a happy ending. But there didn't have to be a story. The family who dog-napped the 50-pound pooch should never have merely put her in their car and driven off.

Here is what happened, in Laura's own words:

"A couple saw her and thought Jackie was abandoned and took her, thinking they were rescuing her. The weird part is that they never thought to come in to the store and ask or look anywhere to see if she was wanted and missing.
"They live in a bubble (up off of Carefree Highway). Someone saw the news story and told someone that knew them and finally got the story back to them, so they called this morning. (Thursday, Aug. 20).
"We went to get her, and she was waiting for us in an air conditioned house, and when she saw us I think Jackie was thinking, 'Thank God. What took you so long.'
"The woman's mother also lived with them and is older, and it does seem like they all got attached to her and were contemplating putting in a new, larger doggie door for Jackie (they also have a small poodle puppy, Baxter.)
"Tai thinks they wanted to keep her.

"It was a little strange that they just seem to live in their own world up there and knew nothing about Jackie's story.

"We thanked them profusely, paid them for taking care of Jackie and taking her to the vet and buying her special food. (They never seemed to grasp the desperation and suffering we endured, but they were very kind and waved us on our way and sadly said their goodbyes to Jackie.)

"It was the best-case scenario."

By now anyone reading this blog knows the rest of the story, how Laura Scandrett and Tai got married in Colorado a little over two weeks ago, how Jackie the dog was their ring bearer. How the newlyweds love Jackie so much they got her shots, so they could be a threesome on their Mexico honeymoon, and how they stopped in Phoenix on their way south. 
This is where the tale turns sour. The couple, not knowing the ways of the desert, committed what is here considered a faux pas: They tied their dog up outside a store, a Barnes and Noble, to be precise, while they dashed inside to acquire a road map. Even so, they left Jackie with a bowl of water. And they tied her in the shade, and for less than half and hour. 
But, when the exited the store, to their horror, their companion was gone, pink

rhinestone collar, leash, water bowl and all.

Laura and Tai spent the next week in anguish, chastising themselves for not knowing that tieing up a dog outside a store is simply not done in Phoenix, as it is in Colorado; they hired a private eye, offered a $2,000 reward, put up fliers, scoured the pounds, even stood on street corners wearing billboards with photos of their dog.

It wasn't until Channel 3 TV aired on segment on their plight that they got news of the pooch.

"I guess this was a real lesson in many things. You probably already know that we just stopped in Phoenix at the time, but have now learned so much about the city and dogs and the summer and how things work.
"We also have been so moved by our experience of checking the pounds everyday, that Tai has his heart set on rescuing at least one dog from the Maricopa pound tomorrow and taking it with us back to Colorado.
"It was devastating every time we went and did not find Jackie, but it was also heartbreaking just to see how many incredible loving beings were there on death row. Jackie lost her twin sister a year ago, and I never wanted to get another dog for her golden years because she has mostly expressed irritation at the prospect, but now we have a real motivation to do what we can and pay back this city and all its fellow dog lovers by taking back one of its little dears."

Honeymoon nightmare continues; $1,000 reward offered for missing dog

The terrible ordeal of Jackie the 15-year-old stolen dog continues. Her human parents are devastated, now offering a $1,000 reward.
As more details have emerged, we now know that Jackie was tied up outside a Barnes and Noble, true, but at 7:30 at night, when it is not blazing hot, and with a bowl of water, and that it was for a very short amount of time.
She was wearing a pink rhinestone collar.
The thief took the dog, the leash, the collar -- and the water bowl.

The owner, Laura Scandrett, a good friend of my cousin Julie Engelsman's, describes what happened in her own words:

"I was passing through Phoenix on my honeymoon and my 15 year old dog Jackie was taken. I'm heartbroken and trying to do everything I can to get her back. Here is the story:

Last Saturday Tai and I were married in Colorado, where we live.

"We cancelled our honeymoon trip because I wanted to keep Jackie with us, as she's 15 years old and my devoted companion since her birth. We decided to take a road trip with her as our honeymoon and were planning to drive to Mexico for a few days. She got all her shots and certificates to prepare for the trip.

"Last Thursday evening we stopped in Phoenix at a Barnes and Noble bookstore in Happy Valley Shopping Center to buy a map of Mexico. We literally just stopped to buy the map and guidebook and saw the store from the highway.

"We tied Jackie up in the shade with her water dish between 7 and 8 o'clock in the evening. Tai checked on her at about 7 o'clock. When we came out about twenty minutes later, she was gone. "Her water bowl and leash were gone with her. She was wearing a pink, rhinestone collar and had a green leash and a dish of water.

"We are heartbroken.

"Our honeymoon has turned into the worst nightmare I can imagine.

"We are checking the pounds and shelters regularly, putting up
posters, handing out flyers in the neighborhood and listed her on CraigsList and Pets911. We are just trying to get the word out, so that if someone has her, they know she is loved and missed and will return her.

"We are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone to can help lead to her safe return...

"Jackie was the ring bearer at our ceremony last week, and anyone who was there and anyone who knows me knows that this has been the saddest two days of my life. I love her more than anything.

"I just hope someone thought they were rescuing her and now will see that she is loved and missed. "

Laura has loved Jackie since she was a puppy. Laura at one point had two from Jackie's litter, Jackie and a sister, but the sister pooch has passed away.

One can only imagine how Jackie must feel, at her age now, to be with someone new. We can all only hope that person is an animal lover.

" Jackie is the most mellow, wonderful- souled dog you have ever met," said Julie. "Jackie...
likes to rest most of her day. She can't hear anything, which worries me the most, that someone might back out of the driveway and think she will move out of the way when she hears the car coming, which she will not.

"This is worrying me sick, clearly."

Jackie, the case of the purloined pooch

This is a mystery, but it is a true story.

It is a story made more timely by Michael Vick's return to football, when suddenly everyone seems to feel the need to re-proclaim their love of dogs.

But this isn't about football or pit bulls, it is about true love, the kind that compels a newly wed couple to bring their beloved canine on their honeymoon.

Laura Scandrett is a good friend of my cousin Julie Englesman's. Last weekend, she and her new husband, Tai, got married in Colorado, and couldn't bear to leave Laura's dog, Jackie, 15 at home.

"Jackie just walked Laura down the aisle at her wedding. Jackie is Laura's best friend, literally," Julie said.

So the honeymooning threesome hopped in car and took a road trip to Phoenix, which is where the tale gets ugly. Whereas in California, or even Flagstaff, it might be okay to leave a dog tied outside a store for a few minutes, it is simply not a common practice here in the desert.

When Laura and Tai exited a local Barnes and Noble, their newlywed bliss turned sour when there was no sight at all of their 50-pound, deaf, black-turning gray favorite pal.

"I know she is devastated, but I also know her well enough to know she is a wreck, and not wanting to talk about it without falling to pieces," Julie said.

The California couple have hired a private eye to help in the case but they are worried as they don't understand why, even if a do-gooder worried about the dog in the heat, they didn't look for her owners in the bookstore.

The reason I am bringing up Quarterback Vick is since his signing with the Philadelphia Eagles there has been an immediate surge in dog brutality items on Facebook. There's a poll about pit bull fighting, and jokes about, "Hide your beagle, Vick's an Eagle." Someone even quipped when I posted a Facebook photo of the missing Jackie, "Vick?"

For Laura Tai and Jackie, let's hope for a happy reunion before the day is out.