Remembering Tyler
It was two years ago today that my ex-wife and I packed up his leash, favorite toys, and crate, and drove Tyler to his new home. Once so terrified of people that he cowered and froze at the slightest gesture, Tyler had become a loving, playful, and loyal companion. He’d discovered toys. He’d learned to trust the affection of a human being. He’d found joy in lying in the sunlight with his head held high, eyes half-closed, sniffing at the air. And just days earlier, he had won the heart of the woman who would give him the chance he always deserved. He had found his permanent home. This day would be his Independence Day.
At 9pm tonight, it will be two years since his new owner called to let me know she had let him off his leash for just a moment and that he had run. Two years since we rushed to her apartment complex to start looking. Two years since I put up flyers, begged for volunteers, camped out in the park, and hired tracking dogs to find him. Two years since I spent every day and night for a week in the unbearable Arizona heat, driving the streets of the surrounding neighborhood, desperate to catch even a glimpse of my black-and-white baby boy. Two years since I reached the absolute end of my ability to hold myself together.
Seven days from now, it will be two years since they found him, his lifeless body lying beneath a small, dried-out tree on the backside of the desert mountain preserve behind the neighborhood where he ran away. Two years since we carried him down from the mountain on a makeshift stretcher. Two years since I signed a piece of paper ordering his cremation.
It was 723 days ago. And I relive it every time I stare at his picture, which sits on a shelf in my living room, next to his ashes.
July 5th is one of the busiest days of the year at animal control facilities all over the United States. But not every owner is reunited with his or her beloved pet.
Because not every pet makes it to animal control.
Whatever your plans are tonight, please, make it your first priority to keep your pets safe. Keep them locked inside until the fireworks stop. Be the owner who wakes up tomorrow morning with your pet still by your side.
And tomorrow, should you happen to see someone else’s pet wandering the streets of your neighborhood, or any neighborhood, please, do what you can to help. Because every pet is someone’s Tyler.
For tips on how to catch and help a lost or stray dog, please watch this 5-minute video.
Thank you.
