Where, oh where

has my little dog gone, oh where, oh where can he be?

Astro had an adventure. After being accidentally (and unknowingly) being let out of the back deck gate - he went missing. I looked via car. We looked via bike (we being me, Allison, Jacob, neighbors Ben, Grace, and Lucas). And then we looked again via car. No Astro.

Astro gets let out accidentally more than he should. We could call this an accident waiting to happen. I had a bad feeling about this time - don't know why - most of the time I simply wait for him to wander home. But none of the neighbors had seen him, it was hot out, and his permanent dog tag still has a Fondy phone #.

Finally, around 5pm, I call the Humane Society. No dog, but they helpfully took a lost dog report and suggested I call the police department to check on dog reports. So my next call was to the police. Yes, we did pick up a dog matching that description from your neighborhood about an hour and a half ago. Meanwhile, the Humane Society is calling me back - presumably to say "hey - we found your dog!"

So - hurray - let's go pick him up. But wait.... to pick up the dog you need two things (1) a current rabies shot (which I think is no problem) and (2) a current city license, which we don't have. But, luckily, I can pick up a license from the police department on my way to pick up the dog - provided I can prove a current rabies vaccination. Ok - I dig out the rabies sheet and - viola - it expired on June 26th. This is why I had "Make Dog Vet Appointment" on my "To do" list. Ok - so now I have neither a license or a current rabies shot. Crap.

Another phone call to the police department, silently I'm thankful that Appleton is kindof like a big, small town and the police department has nothing to do but answer questions from irresponsible pet owners like me. I can still get a license if I prepay for a rabies shot at my vet. This is about when two other things happen - Brian calls, and Allison decides to squirt purple lotion all over the upstairs hallway carpet in an attempt to thwart whatever evil plot Jacob had concocted to get in her room. So Brian goes to pay the vet for a rabies shot - it's now 5:40pm and the vet closes at 6 and the humane society at 7. Astro is getting closer to a night in the slammer.

With prepaid receipt in hand, I go to the police station (good to now know where that is), then to the humane society to pick up the dog. I fill out numerous forms, which probably puts me on some "you will never be able to adopt a pet from the humane society you irresponsible pet owner you" list, pay my $96, and take Astro home. A costly adventure.