Woman’s search for lost dog goes viral
Published 8:31 am Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Seven months ago, Remy went missing.
Since then, her “mom” Stacey Miller has pulled out all the stops to be reunited with her baby. Remy, a 13-year-old black chow mix, got away from her fenced in yard in Jonesborough in November.
“She is what keeps me going, my 13 years with her,” Miller said. “She is my first baby. I have heard so many stories of hope where people have been reunited with their pets. I can’t give up on her. I have prayed to God and asked for this anxiety to go away if she is with Him, but it is still there. I believe she is out there.”
In that seven months, Remy has been tracked moving from her home in Jonesborough toward Johnson City. Since then she has been scent-tracked by search dogs in Carter County, first near Central Elementary and along Highway 321/67 and then along Gap Creek Road and near Vaughn Road in Hampton.
“I feel she is in that area,” Miller said. “We had dog teams that scented her there.”
Miller said it had been a while since the teams had picked up a scent of Remy in the area, but noted the dog is constantly on the move and that the scent tracking teams have picked up scents from her in various spots in the Tri-Cities.
“Within a month she was spotted in Johnson City and then the Milligan area,” Miller said. “She could be with a family or she could be barricaded down somewhere and is staying around there.”
For Miller, the main goal is to spread the word as far as possible that Remy still has not been reunited with her family.
“My concern is that someone took her in not knowing she has a family,” she said. “It could be someone who doesn’t have the Internet, and they don’t know that we are searching for her.”
Miller started a Facebook page, “Find Remy-Our Lost Doggie” that has more than 6,700 likes. Through the page, supporters can post updates about Remy’s possible locations and share tips on how to help Remy find her family once again.
Numerous pictures of Remy are available on the page, but Miller cautioned that Remy could look different from the last time she took a picture of her furry friend.
“She is a chow-mix, so she could be matted by now,” Miller said. “She had on a collar when she went missing, pale pink with cupcakes, but she could have lost it or been recollared by now.”
Once Miller learned that Remy had escaped from her yard, she immediately started searching for her beloved pet. She took to the Internet and posted about Remy on various sites, shared her story in the local media and made fliers, posters and yard signs that told the community that Remy had a home that missed her badly.
Numerous volunteers rallied around the family to help find their missing dog. Miller said she had contacts in surrounding cities and counties that when a tip comes out, she can have whoever is closest respond to the scene.
Miller said if anyone spots a dog they believe is Remy, the best thing to do is to take a picture and text it to her number, which is listed below.
“Dogs are fast,” she said. “If someone can take a picture and send it, it is easier to say whether it is her. The hardest part is not knowing because the dog is gone before we can get there.”
Anyone who has a tip for the Millers can call or text them at 863-8368 or send them a Facebook message at www.facebook.com/FindRemy.