Redmond runaway-dog dispute ends happily

Social media blew up this week after a runaway dog was taken to BrightSide Animal Shelter in Redmond. He was then put up for adoption. The owner, Shonalie Oakes, said the shelter refused to give her dog back to her.

But it all ended well Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Oakes cried, “I feel like a part of our family’s missing. He’s been in my life more than a decade, so it’s pretty upsetting.”

Oakes was out of town a few days before Independence Day, leaving Sue in her brother’s care, when her dog, a boy named Sue, got loose and ran away amid noisy fireworks.

“So I had a voicemail, and they said they had Sue,” Oakes said of their dog, which is micro-chipped.

Sue was found wandering the streets by Redmond police, who brought him into BrightSide Animal Center.

“We called the owner, got the cell phone, left a message on the cellphone. Four times we called,” said Patricia Bowling, the BrightSide shelter manager.

Oakes said while driving through Nevada, she had limited cellphone service.

Her brother then tried to pick up Sue from BrightSide, but he had no luck.

“Tuesday, he went in, and they wouldn’t release him, to him. So then I thought, ‘Well, you know, he’s in a safe place. They’ll take good care of him,” Oakes said.

BrightSide said it has policies in place to make sure any animals that are brought in are well taken care of.

“The No. 1 priority for us is to find the owners,” Bowling said. “Our process is to keep the dog, have it seen by a vet, have it vaccinated. All of our dogs who are ours are spayed and neutered. The happy ending is that the mother and father come in, they get their animal back, and then they get to go home.”.

But somewhere along the line, wires were crossed, confusion set in and they missed the opportunity to pick Sue up — so BrightSide put Sue up for adoption.

It was only a few days later that Oakes and her family saw Sue walking in the Fourth of July Pet Parade, representing BrightSide.

“I saw my dog Sue in the Fourth of July parade, and I was like — ‘Oh, that’s him!” Oakes said.

After a few attempts to get Sue back, Oakes took to Facebook to express her frustration. And like many such postings, it spread very fast.

Despite the confusion and miscommunication, both Oakes and BrightSide officials said the only wanted the same outcome.

“I just want my dog back. That’s all I want,” said Oakes.

“I want that dog to go back to its family,” said Bowling.

At the end of the day, their wishes came true.

As of about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sue was returned home, after a brief conversation between BrightSide and the Oakes’.