Kimba's Flyer

My beloved GSD princess, Kimba, left my property on December 14, 2002 at 12:00 pm CST. I was heartbroken as she had only been here from Germany since November 29, 2002 and did not know the area at all. I immediately started searching and posting flyers for her return. I also contacted Rumble's family to let them know that I truly knew how they were feeling. Before Kimba left, I could only imagine what Rumble's family was going through. To my surprise, Rumble's family immediately stepped up to help with suggestions, prayers, words of encouragement, etc. They even created a web page to get the word out about Kimba being gone. I had several people contacting me from all over the country and from other countries as well offering prayers, encouragement and words of support. I even had a pet communicator contact me and he said he had been communicating with Kimba. I prayed for a Christmas miracle and asked others to pray for the same. I searched and followed leads as they came in, no matter what time that was. I had some very promising Kimba sightings, but not once did I see her when I went to search the area that she had been sighted in. Some of the "sightings" turned out to not be Kimba and others I felt sure had been Kimba, but couldn't confirm it.

As I drove down Highway 431 I saw a man and a red truck on the left had side of the road.  I pulled into a driveway on the right hand side of the road and started to back out to get over to the left side of the road. The man waved at me telling me not to move.  I got out of the car and that's when I saw the German Shepherd that he had been talking about on the phone.  It sure looked like Kimba, but was it really?  I had to cross the street to get a closer look.  As I got to the other side of the street, I saw the red collar and bone tag that this dog was wearing.  My hand went to my mouth and I believe I said, "Oh my God, it IS her!"  I immediately sat down where I had once stood, pulled out the bag of hotdogs that I had been carrying with me since talking to Rumble's family and Debbie Hall, the lost pet expert.  I started calling to her, "Kimba, here, Kimba, here baby..." I can't remember everything that I said, but I just continued saying anything in a very soft sing-song type voice.  When Kimba finally got to me, I grabbed her up in a great big hug and cried for at least 5 minutes.

During this whole time, the man stayed by his truck and the traffic slowed to see what was going on.  I assume that they probably thought that this dog had been hit.  Anyway, I turned to the man and asked him if he could go across the street and pull my truck over to the side we were on.  My son was still in the truck at this point.  Once my truck was on the correct side of the road, I picked Kimba up in my arms and put her in the crate that had been in the truck since she had left.  After I had secured Kimba in the crate, I turned to the man and hugged him.  Through my continued tears, I thanked him for calling, telling him how much Kimba meant to me and how grateful I was to have her back.  He told me that he had seen her earlier in the week but didn't realize that she had been missing until a day later when he saw the flyer at a gas station near his home (about 15 miles from where we were standing and where he called me from to tell me he knew where Kimba was).  He said that on this day (December 21, 2002) he was returning home from playing Santa Claus at a children's Christmas party and saw Kimba's red collar.  After having spoken to this man for about 10 minutes, I reached in my back pocket for the reward money.  He told me that he didn't want it and started walking away from me toward his truck.  I literally begged him to please take it and reiterated how much it meant to me that he cared enough to get Kimba back to me.  He continued to walk away from me, got in his truck and drove off.  I never got the man's name.

I immediately called my vet and he was going to meet me at the clinic.  Kimba checked out okay with the exception of extremely raw and bleeding pads.  The vet gave me some medication to spray on her pads, antibiotics to prevent infection and a pain medication for Kimba.  I sprayed her pads when I got her home, gave her an antibiotic capsule and a pain pill.  The next morning when I was going to spray Kimba's pads, I found that they were totally healed with only a slight hint that anything was ever wrong.

Not only did I get my much prayed-for Christmas miracle of Kimba's return, I got it from God through Santa Claus (this is how I now refer to the man that called me that day) AND Kimba was really no worse for the wear after her week-long self-guided tour of her new surroundings.

I wish to thank everyone who said a prayer, sent an email, offered encouragement, offered their help in searching or posting flyers, "talked" to Kimba or even thought about us during that difficult time.

HUGS...Colleen, Kimba & the rest of the royal GSD gang

with Rumble in our hearts & prayers

Reward


German Shepherd 55-60 lbs - Female Black & Red	Lost in Ashland City, TN Lost 12/14/02 Name: "Kimba"
Red collar with bone tag. Kimba's 2-1/2 years old. She is new to the area so will be skittish/scared. If you see her or even think you see her PLEASE call! www.globalspan.net/rumblelostfriends.htm FindKimba@netscape.net
615-792-8766 or 615-319-8867 (cell)