Ronnie and Rudy

[Another pet recovery story as woofed to mommy by me, your humble servant, Rudy…By the way, click on the photos to enlarge… :O]

As Christmas, 2007, approached, the St. John’s of Fairway Drive (Eastman), were just welcoming the latest addition to the family, a Cardigan Corgi by the name of “Jenna”, when Jenna decided to check out the neighborhood all on her own! According to owners (I prefer the word, ‘guardians’…), Laura and Walter St. John, Jenna—a shy little girl of one or two years—had just been adopted from a breeder and had been in her new home barely one day. Not enough time to bond with her new family. On December 10, in the middle of a storm, Jenna went missing and stayed missing for seven days!

(Yikes! How did she survive outdoors for a week…!?)

As soon as she was discovered missing, the St. John’s did what any Eastman pet owner can do in similar circumstances: contact Eastman’s “ListServe” bulletin board (owner-eastman-owners@srnet.com) and give them the details to email out to Eastman residents. On December 12, Roger Woodworth posted the following message to Eastman owners:

lost dog as of yesterday, 12/10/07: Cardigan Corgi, red & white in color with a tag indicating an ID chip. Dog goes by the name of “Jenna”. Please contact Walter St. John at … with any info. Thank you, Eastman Email List

When she didn’t show up the following day or the day after, Jenna’s mommy and daddy grew increasingly anxious for her safety.

Meantime, Vicki Cafarella of Coldwell Banker-Redpath, began reaching out to known animal lovers in Eastman, including good neighbor, Adele Furdyna, who jumped on the UVHS (Upper Valley Humane Society) hotline for help with ideas for Jenna’s recovery. She spoke with a Robin Stern who suggested leaving a baited “have-a-heart” trap in the vicinity of where she was last seen. Among others called were Bonnie Bauer, Joann Lutz and Ronnie Clifford (hey, that’s mommy…!)–Eastman residents who have helped with pet recovery in the past.

Others participating in Jenna’s recovery with calls and sightings and posting notices were:

• Eastman Security
• Eastman Ski Center
• Grantham Police
• Grantham Post Office
• Rum Brook Market
• Several folks at UVHS
• Several Upper Valley vets

(Mr. St. John hopes that he has not left anyone off this list and apologizes if so…)

One theory was that Jenna might have been trying to work her way back to the breeder. Hopefully, however, Jenna might still be in the neighborhood.

At the suggestion of folks at UVHS, the St. John’s left the garage door open with food and water and blankets inside. This was done the day after Jenna went missing.

Mr. St. John also contacted the breeder (Cheryl Black of Blackdale Kennels, Shrewsbury, Vermont) who volunteered the “loan” of Jenna’s father. The idea was that if Jenna were somehow still in the neighborhood, she might pick up “dad’s” scent and stick around long enough to be recovered. Sure enough, the breeder came by with Jenna’s Cardigan Corgi dad. Unfortunately, walking him on the golf course in the hopes of attracting Jenna’s attention proved to no avail.

Meanwhile the weather grew colder throughout that week, and hearts grew sadder with each passing day.

One afternoon a week after Jenna went missing, Mr. St. John came home from work and “smelled dog” as he drove into the garage. Miracle of miracles, there was little Jenna huddled in a corner in her blankets! And the food was gone!! Though scared and hungry she had returned to her new home none the worse for wear…(Don’t such happy endings give you a lump in your throat…?)

And so, a happy ending to a pet recovery story that might well have turned out otherwise. My daddy checked with her guardians and Jenna is now “settling in” nicely. Running away is probably the last thing on her mind these days, as you can now see them “on [Eastman] roads most afternoons…”. Also, “midnight walks are still big on her agenda.”

While her family has no idea where little Jenna went or how she survived, she was spotted a couple of times during that cold winter week: once on Walton Heath where she was approached but ran off, and two days later on the golf course behind Troon. The people who spotted her thought she was a fox until reading the notice about a missing dog.

—Rudy Clifford

P.S. Mr. St. John says the attention gained and the efforts put forward on Jenna’s behalf are a tribute to the community in which we live. And mommy says if you have any stories of this kind–or ideas for pet recovery–please forward them to her.