Christmas wish comes true

By Bridget Cook
SHAREE Dunkin was granted her one Christmas wish this week – the return of her puppy Dekoda.
Her three-month English staffy puppy went missing from her partner’s home in Frankston on 21 November.
After almost a month of desperate attempts to find her beloved pet, the Berwick resident located Dekoda on Sunday following an anonymous tip-off.
Ms Dunkin said having her puppy back in her arms was the best Christmas present she could have asked for. “We are all a family again,” she said. “She is definitely going to be looked after now.”
Ms Dunkin’s puppy went missing from her partner’s home while she was away for a couple of days.
Ms Dunkin, with the help of her family and friends, started putting up posters and handing flyers all around the City of Casey and Frankston and set up a facebook page ‘Missing puppy Dekoda $1000 reward’, which attracted more than 1000 people in a few weeks.
She also contacted every lost dogs’ home and pound from Portsea to North Melbourne, but had no luck. She was contacted by a woman recently who said she had spotted Dekoda with a man in Cranbourne, but was unaware at the time that it was the puppy until she saw signs up in the area.
Ms Dunkin contacted the Cranbourne News last week in a desperate bid to get her story and a photo of Dekoda to the local community in hope that someone had seen her puppy.
Ms Dunkin even employed the help of pet communicator Amanda De Warren to help with her cause.
Her dream came true on Sunday, following a call from an anonymous person who gave Ms Dunkin the address of the people that had the dog.
“We knocked on the door and asked if they had our dog and they initially denied it,” she said. “We were out the front of their house, and I was just about to call the police as I knew something wasn’t right, and the person came outside and said we could have our dog back. I dropped my phone and fell to my knees. I was so overwhelmed.
“She knew it was us. She was licking us all over and jumping on us with excitement.”
Ms Dunkin said she wanted to get the good news out to the local community who had helped get her puppy back.
“More than anything, the community had a massive impact on finding her,” she said. “The biggest part was the overwhelming response from the community. People have just been amazing. I can’t thank them enough.”
Petstock in Cranbourne have donated a number of items to Ms Dunkin for Dekoda and Karingal Vet Hospital microchipped her for free.