Belinda Dunkley and children Tiarna and Chloe are all smiles after being reunited with their long lost friend Mack. By Glen Atwell
NEW Year’s Eve fireworks turned foe to friend for a Cranbourne family when reunited with a pet dog lost for two years.
Mack, a now four-year-old English Staffordshire bull terrier, escaped from Belinda and Adam Dunkley’s backyard on New Year’s Eve 2005, while terrified by fireworks exploding across the area.
The Dunkleys scoured the neighbourhood for Mack, called the RSPCA and even phoned every vet within a 30-kilometre radius – all to no avail.
Heartbroken, they soon accepted that Mack had gone, or even worse, had been killed.
But when the Peninsula Animal Aid Shelter phoned on 2 January, Mack came bounding back into the Dunkleys’ lives – 732 days after his disappearance.
The Pearcedale-based branch of the RSPCA had found Mack wandering the streets of Hampton Park, seemingly after another New Year’s Eve escape, and identified his owners by scanning a microchip embedded in his skin.
Mrs Dunkley said it was obvious Mack had been well cared for during his extended holiday, but could not understand why someone would keep a lost dog without checking it out.
“We’re overjoyed to have him back, but I’m horrified to think someone else has kept him all this time,” she said.
“Mack was micro-chipped to ensure that if he was lost, he could and would be returned.
“We’re grateful that he was looked after, but two years is a long time to keep someone’s family pet.”
Mrs Dunkley said Mack struggled to readjust to his original home, but is now improving in leaps and bounds.
“He seemed confused when he first came back,” she said. “Mack remembered the backyard, but it took a few days for his personality to return.
“When he ran away, Mack was very loud and boisterous, but he has returned much more mature and reserved.
“We’re just lucky that fireworks and Mack don’t mix, otherwise he’d still be living with whoever it was that had him.
“It felt like we had lost a best mate when he disappeared, so to have him returned was amazing. The entire family was emotional,” Mrs Dunkley said.
