All’s well that ends well. After a frightening experience that took a little dog a distance far beyond what its little legs could cover, Alma’s Grose family – dog and all – is reunited once again.
After nine days of uncertainty following a break-and-enter into their home that resulted in the disappearance of their beloved pooch, Troy and Aleasha Grose are now resting easy with their beloved Bichon Frise, Chloe.
“It was pretty rough. It was nine days … it takes its toll on you,” Troy Grose said in an interview after his two-and-a half-year-old dog was found in Brantford.
“She’s adjusting – a little tired still but she’s doing quite well.”
The dog disappeared on Mar. 18 during a daylight break-in at their home. Several of their possessions, including tools and a 2002 Kawasaki 650 ATV, were stolen. But as the Groses took stock of the missing items it was the disappearance of Chloe that hurt the most – the stolen material possessions meant nothing next to the loss of their dog.
They contacted police and then immediately launched what they would later call “the search of our lives.”
Contacting newspapers and television crews, the distraught family looked everywhere for the pooch. They sent off countless flyers and scoured the Internet in search of a clue.
When people asked how they knew that the dog hadn’t just run off of her own volition, Troy and Aleasha had a simple answer.
“We know Chloe, and she wouldn’t run away and not come back.”
On Mar. 27, nine days later, the Groses received a call from a Brantford veterinary clinic: Chloe was safe and sound.
Overcome with joy, the couple waited no time in heading to Oshweken for the reunion. There they met the woman who earlier in the week had found Chloe, brought her to the shelter where she worked, and later to a vet clinic where the dog’s embedded microchip led to Troy and Aleasha.
“We’re really confused about why they took the dog and why they let her go,” said Troy.
The facts surrounding the theft and release of Chloe are shrouded in mystery, and police continue to look for answers.
“We don’t know whether the dog was actually taken by the people that did the break in or whether the dog got loose and somebody picked it up and dropped it off on the way to work or what, but our officers are continuing to investigate the break-in,” said Mark Cloes, spokesperson for Wellington County OPP.
While pet kidnappings in the area are not common, they sometimes occur as a result of break-ins.
“Very rarely … we have had dogs that were taken in break-ins – they might have been pure bred, they wanted maybe for breeding purposes or something,” explained Cloes.
If only dogs could talk, then Chloe might shed some light on her week-long odyssey. For the Groses, however, what’s most important is that she is back home, safe and sound.
