JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A beloved family dog disappeared in Oklahoma and was found eight months later in Jacksonville. The local community stepped up and made the two-day trip to reunite the lost pet with his owners, but it came with a few roadblocks.
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“We were so distraught at his disappearance,” Amanda Lester said. “We love him and we greatly, greatly missed him.”
Their dog, Frazier, went missing in May. Lester said she was losing hope he’d ever be found until just last week. A driver spotted him on McDuff Ave. on the Westside.
The neighbor claimed she brought the dog to Animal Care & Protective Services, but was turned away and told to drop the dog back off where he was found. Lester did get a call, but not until after Frazier was dropped back off on the street.
“How strange. That doesn’t mean found. You can’t say found if you don’t know where he is. We have to fix this,” she said.
The Jacksonville community did fix it. After a day of searching and several posts on social media groups, the dog was again spotted.
“Everyone was keeping an eye out driving around looking for him and I just knew we would find him. And we did,” Vickie Nelson, a local animal advocate, said.
The neighborhood didn’t stop there. They came together to drive the dog 1200 miles away back home to Oklahoma.
“No one had to do what they did, but they all did that and some. We’re forever grateful,” Lester said.
The story brought up another concern back here in Jacksonville though. ACPS told Action News Jax it did not turn Frazier away.
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However, in a statement, a representative said, “Unless the dog is sick or injured we will always try to have the finder assist us by either becoming a foster home for the dog or by taking the dog back to the area it was found and trying to find the owner.”
The statement went on to say, “Studies show that loose dogs are generally only a quarter mile from their home so keeping them in the area that they were found is statistically the best way to reunite the lost dog with its owner.”
Nelson said capacity at the shelter is another issue though. “Everybody could use a ton more fosters, adopters, volunteers. It’s going to be a community effort to fix the problem of so many animals needing a home to go.”
There are 264 kennels at the ACPS shelter, but about 300 dogs are currently there. Action News Jax interviewed ACPS’ new chief last year about how he plans to tackle issues at the shelter
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