Batman is home.
A few days after the six-year-old Yorkie/Chihuahua/Pomeranian cross, was taken from outside the Dollarama store in Langley’s Murrayville Square, the missing dog returned, in a police cruiser.
Murrayville resident Johanna Vandyk said just a few minutes after her mother phoned her to let her know the police had been in touch, two RCMP cruisers pulled up outside her house, lights flashing, with a subdued Batman in the front passenger seat of one vehicle.
”He was happy to see us. He kissed us and everything, but he wasn’t all jumping up and down and and excited to be home,” Vandyk said.
Batman, so named because he had facial marking like a Batman mask as a puppy, had been shaved, including his whiskers.
“He looked really lethargic,” Vandyk described.
“He got a little [welcome home] party, and gave hugs and kisses all around, but he wouldn’t eat his treats.”
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That was on Wednesday night, Dec 13.
By Friday, Batman was eating again and starting to act more like his normal bouncy and energetic self.
“He’s starting to show signs of improvement.”
Batman was taken Monday night, Dec. 11, when Vandyk left him on a leash outside the store in Murrayville.
Usually Vandyk’s other dog, Bowie, a Pyrenees, would have been there to keep the tiny pup company, but the larger dog was in need of some washing-up, so he stayed at home.
“I normally bring both my dogs [to the store].”
After Batman disappeared, a distraught Vandyk made a public appeal, telling the Langley Advance Times that the terrier cross may not be not worth a lot of money, “but he’s worth everything to me [and my husband]. I’ve had him since he was born. He’s our baby.”
Vandyk said after she went public, she was phoned by the mother of a 25-year-old man who, with his girlfriend, had just acquired a new dog.
After seeing Batman’s picture, the mom identified the dog, and told Vandyk if her son, whom she described as troubled, didn’t give Batman up, she would call the police.
A day later, officers showed up at Vandyk’s home with the missing Batman.
Vandyk called the mother an “angel” for intervening, and thanked the many people who helped get the word out.
“It was amazing how many people turned up with ways to help, and just spread our plight around,” she said.
“It was like a wildfire. All of you are truly amazing and we will never forget it.”
She added she will never leave Batman unattended outside a store again.
“I felt very safe doing that [up till now] because I’ve lived in this neighborhood for eight years, and go to that store probably five to four times a week.”
Vandyk also had a message for the young couple, who she was told, claimed they thought Batman had been abandoned.
“We are praying for the young couple to do some serious investigating on the subject, before you make such a rash decision. You could have destroyed a dog’s happy home and turned his and our worlds completely upside down. You know a little bit of Batman now. Couldn’t you see he was a loved little dog?”
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