MATHISTON — A joyful reunion took place when a missing dog saw her owners New Year’s Day.
Bella, a 4-year-old shih-poo (half shih tzu and half poodle), had wandered away from her family’s home on Stidham Drive in Mathiston on Dec. 19.
“We usually let her out and she comes right back in,” said Patterson Bell. “A hunting dog had been through the yard and she chased it the night before but came back. I guess she was still looking for the scent the next night.”
Bell, an Army National Guard recruiter at Mississippi State, knew that Christmas would be different without Bella. He began making calls to agencies that might take in dogs to see if someone had turned her in. When he called Oktibbeha County Humane Society, they told him to send a photo and they would post it on their Facebook site.
Bell sent the photo, Christmas came and went, and the family’s annual meeting in Gatlinburg, Tenn., was looming ahead. They had pretty much given up on Bella’s return, so the family left on Dec. 27 without expectations of ever seeing their dog again.
Fate stepped in when a couple was driving home from church on Dec. 29 and saw the dog on Highway 403. Because of her haircut and personality, it was evident that it was someone’s pet. Rather than pick it up, they posted a notice on social media saying that if anyone in the area was missing a small white dog, it was near the old sandpit on Highway 403.
Dawn Fant Morgan, a former Mathiston resident, contacted them and said someone had been looking for a small white dog that was missing in the Wood College area and forwarded the Humane Society’s post, which included photo and contact information. So they returned, agreed that the dog and photo were the same, picked up the dog and called the Bell family.
“The main reason I have a Facebook account is to help find homes for animals and to help people be reunited with their pets,” Morgan said. It certainly a good thing for Bella.
When the Bell’s phone rang the family was playing miniature golf and were shocked that the dog had been found.
“We thought she was gone for good,” Haley said. “The whole family was there and we were all excited; they all love Bella.”
On New Year’s Day they returned from Gatlinburg and stopped to pick up Bella before they even went home. Although Bella had enjoyed her stay in her foster home, it was evident that these were the people she belonged to. She immediately began to wiggle and try to get to them.
Two-year-old Liam was happiest of all, as the accompanying photo shows.
