We Are Foster Parents, At Least For A While

Yesterday, the neighbor down the street showed up at our house with a skinny little dog in his arms. He had found her running down the main street near his house, and when she came up into his driveway, he caught her and took her inside, because we have been having very cold weather here (at least cold for Alabama).
The next morning, he took her all around looking for her owner, and no one seems to be missing her.
She is an Italian Greyhound, or at least part IG, and has that long-legged, skinny greyhound appearance.
Since the neighbor didn't have a good fenced yard where she could go outside safely to do her doggy chores, he left her with us.
I put an ad on the local lost/found pets in Facebook; but so far no one seems to have lost her, although several people have offered to take her and give her a good home.
She seems like she has been a pampered pet , and I just believe that somewhere there must be a person who is desperately trying to find their lost little doggie.
I just emailed the Gulf Coast IG association and sent a picture, so maybe they will have someone who has reported her as lost of stolen. These are NOT cheap dogs, so it is quite conceivable that she could have been stolen, transported, and then resold.

 

That is always a possibility, @Honey Gee ; but she has all of the behavior of a dog who has been loved and well cared for, and sleeps in the middle of the bed at night. The puzzle is that she has been spayed and chipped; but the people who should be the owners do not return my phone calls or answer the phone.
Billy, our neighbor, took her to the vet and they checked for a chip, and gave him the name and phone number. He apparently actually got an answer when he called the number; but said they didn't sound right to him, and they said they had at one time owned this dog, but no longer owned her and didn't want her. They gave him 2 other numbers.
I tried calling those, one was disconnected, and no one answered at the other one . I left messages about the dog with both numbers that worked, and no one has even called back to say that they used to own the dog.
She seems happy here with us, and gets along fine with Chipper and Tootsie; so we will probably keep her until either her REAL owner is found, or someone who will give her a good home . Otherwise, we will probably just keep her ourselves because I do not want her ending up out in the streets again like she was found before.
It is sad to think that this sweet little dog was dumped, and heartless that someone would do such a thing in this horrible COLD weather ! !

 

I have been looking back through the pictures on the lost/found page, and way back in February, she was at the dog pound here. I am going to call and talk with them tomorrow at the dog pound, and see whether she ended up being returned to the owner, or adopted out.
I really would like to see her go back to whomever it was that actually DID love and take care of this dog; but I do NOT want to see her go back to a home that will either mistreat her or abandon her.
So, unless we find that person whom this dog is likely still missing terribly, we probably will keep her, Honey Gee.
Here is the picture of her at the dog pound last winter.

 

So, this is a sad little story; but with a happy ending. As near as I can tell, this sweet little dog has maybe never had that wonderful forever home after all.
I had a long discussion with the lady who works with the HAS (Huntsville animal shelter), and it turns out that she was apparently dumped out and abandoned at or near the HAS shelter early last week sometime. The lady I talked with said that she had seen her outside of the facility; but the dog ran away and she couldn't find or catch her, and she thinks that was early this last week, probably Tuesday.
We are probably a mile away from the shelter, and down a busy street, plus it has been way below freezing at night all week long. It has me in TEARS to think of this poor , sweet little girl, alone and hungry and terrified, freezing in the cold for almost a whole week out there ! !
Anyway, the people who first had her never came to claim her last February when she was picked up and at HAS shelter, and she was then adopted out, but has been passed from one owner to another for most of this last year.
That is why there were several phone numbers connected with her travels; but none of them would return a call to me, even to say they used to have her and tell us what her name is, for heaven's sake.

We have named her "Elise" after the Elise in the movie "Somewhere in Time", one of my all-time favorite movies. She now has a name, and a Forever Home, and won't be spending any more homeless nights out in the cold.
She is curled up beside me in my chair as I type this post, and I think that she knows that she belongs here now.

 

She is doing wonderfully, @Patsy Faye ! She is a real cuddle-bug, and loves to get in bed with me, and even snuggle under the covers to keep warm. When I am in my recliner, she snuggles up beside me . She also seems to have taken a shine to Chipper (although he is a little skeptical of her since she is so much taller than he is, and he is a fragile little fellow nowadays) and Elise gives him kisses and snuggles up to him in his doggie bed on the floor when she is not next to me.
She learned very rapidly that anytime I have food, dogs usually get bites, and she now sits hopefully at my feet and waiting for a taste of anything I am having for dinner.
All in all, she seems to be very happy here, and she has not tried to run out the front door and escape; so I think she is integrating very well with everyone here.
I wish that I could share the "live picture"; but the iPad takes it and shows it only on the ipad, and not if it is posted here on the forum. Otherwise you could. Actually see her turning her head and looking cute.