Hunter and Brandy Come Home!
Hunter (Baruh's African Hunter) and Brandy (Katlin's Brandywine) dug out of their back yard on Monday morning, June 7, 1999. Their owners, Gloria and David Bales, started searching right away.
I joined the search later that afternoon when Gloria called me. My husband and daughter joined the search that evening. We covered an area about 3 miles around the lost Basenji's home. Gloria and David made up flyers that we posted on doors and light posts in the apartment complex. We all searched until well after dark with no results. Partial success on Tuesday morning! A gentleman called to say he had spotted Brandy in an adjoining strip mall. He picked Gloria up and they tried to capture Brandy. Brandy, either from fear or effects of the heat, did not respond to Gloria. She walked into the traffic of the 5 lane road that fronted the strip mall! Fortunately, the traffic stopped and Brandy responded to Gloria's calling to her. One down, one to go! I joined Gloria on Tuesday afternoon and we posted the flyers in the surrounding housing additions and apartment complexes. Calls later that afternoon indicated that the 2 Basenjis had been spotted the previous night in an apartment complex about half a mile north of their home. Dave, who had spent the previous night driving with their son Jessie looking for the dogs, went to that complex and passed out flyers. He also talked to the office staff. He talked to the mail carrier, an ice cream truck driver, and the complex maintenance personnel in both apartment complexes. That evening, my daughter and I drove through the apartments. Residents we talked to told us that the 2 Basenjis had lounged around the apartments on Monday night, watching the kids play and "helping" one resident work on his car. They obviously hadn't been ready to come home yet! We had taken my daughter's Papillons and Chaco, my Basenji puppy, with us when we searched hoping that they would draw Hunter out. 
We got really worried because, while we were searching, we got hit by a really strong thunderstorm. The lightning was striking straight down! And we got about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain in less than an hour. We walked the entire complex with the dogs, talking to every resident we saw. We determined where Hunter and Brandy had been seen Monday night; and where Hunter had been seen by himself Tuesday morning. We searched under bushes and up and down a creek running through the area. The dogs stopped at several points and whined and dug around in the bushes. The bushes had been flattened out; obviously Hunter had been nesting in the area. We called and looked into backyards. We posted more flyers. And we prayed. Finally, it was just too dark to go on. But we were sure that Hunter was around there. Wednesday morning I went back to the same area. I drove down the street where Hunter had been seen last. There were some workmen there and I stopped and showed them the flyer. I was told that I was too late! I wasn't sure at first if that was good news or tragedy! It turned out to be VERY good news. These men had called Gloria just a short time before I got there. These guys had been feeding animal crackers to Hunter for a couple of days. They had also given him water. They saw the posters that morning and caught Hunter when he came to visit!
Both Basenjis were in good shape, actually. Brandy was dehydrated and had obviously not eaten. Her pads were worn and had pavement burns on them. Hunter had eaten and drunk water, so he was in better shape in that area. But the undersides of his front legs had some pavement burns. And his foot pads had pavement burns, as well. He's walking gingerly right now! But, as you can see from the pictures, the 'Senjis haven't lost their playfulness or their appetites!
