Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Facebook helps find a lost and forlorn dog.

 A sweet shy pit bull/Doberman mix named Siobhan, part of the largest cruelty case in Georgia history, had found new life at LifeLine Animal Project in Avondale Estates, Georgia. She got up to 40 pounds, regained her health and finally discovered how to play with toys. 

Over Easter weekend, this three-year-old's foster parents took her to Beaufort, South Carolina for vacation. But Siobhan ran away, nowhere to be found. When she was spotted in town, the  skittish Siobhan fled from help, only to be hit by a car. She then scampered off into the salt marshes surrounding Beaufort.

For days a crew from Lifeline and her foster family searched frantically yet fruitlessly for her in the dangerous marshes. So Lifeline turned to Facebook, posting about her plight and offering a $500 reward for her safe return.

On Siobhan's fourth day lost in Beaufort, nursing student Faith Wade, who had reposted the original Facebook plea, got a tip from a local business: They spotted  Siobhan in a nearby marsh. Wade called Debbie Setzer from Lifeline, and after buying a pair of rubber boots, this wife of a deployed marine joined Setzer, the pair wading through the vine-choked marsh calling Siobhan's name over and over again. And then, a sound that Wade and Setzer may always remember. 

"I'll never forget hearing Siobhan answer my calls for her with her beautiful, strong, deep bark, or her pretty eyes, just calmly looking at me through the marsh grass when I first saw her," Wade posted on Lifeline's Facebook page after finding Siobhan on April 27th.  "It was a wonderful day."
Wade, and the folks at Lifeline, credit Facebook for pointing them to Siobhan. "SHE'S FOUND - THANKS TO YOU, FACEBOOK FRIENDS!!!," Lifeline posted on its page. "You responded to our pleas for help and spread the word. You saved her!"