Bring Maggie Home

On April 11th, I was hiking with my one year-old dog, Maggie, at Wagon Wheel OHV near Ridgecrest, California. As we began to loop back toward the direction of our new camping site, Maggie spotted a jackrabbit and took chase. It is her instinct to go after them, but they always left her looking foolish as they easily bounced along and changed direction, leaving her bewildered at their disappearing act. I began walking toward where I had seen her running, but I lost her among the bushes and boulders. I yelled, whistled, and barked (she responds well to a loud bark), but, due to high winds, she couldn't hear me. 

I spent the next few days hiking the area and driving deeper into the desert to attempt to locate her. I repeated the same efforts for days, as well as posting her as lost online.

Fortunately, I have great friends who massively expanded Maggie's online search efforts by sharing her photos and story on Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and Reddit; far beyond what I could have possibly done.

Within two days of the online campaign to find Maggie, a very kind woman in Ridgecrest called me to report that she believed she had just spotted Maggie near her home. She called to her and the dog did respond to being called "Maggie," but she couldn't convince the dog  to follow her to her yard. I immediately drove to the area and called the woman back for more information. She had even taken a photo of the dog, which does look like my lost Maggie. After nearly two weeks of searching, that call has been the only lead.

It is believed that Maggie was found, but has very likely been kept by the caller's neighbor. I showed them photos of Maggie, since they had been seen chasing the stray dog in question, and they stated that their dog "looks just like" Maggie. They did not show me the dog, but their two dogs were present, and they look nothing at all like my Maggie. Ridgecrest Animal Control, due to complaints, knows which dogs those people own, and they too stated that they are not even similar to Maggie.

I am hoping, with this fundraising campaign, to be able to motivate Maggie's captors to release her, or to offer a sizable enough reward so that someone comes forward with information leading to Maggie's return.

This wonderful mutt, Maggie, who I adopted from the Bakersfield SPCA, is my only companion. She was with me 24/7 as we traveled, camped,  and hiked through deserts and National Forests. She is a wonderful, sweet, and playful friend who slept with me - very often ON me. She shared my meals and barked in my ear while I was cooking. She forced me out of bed in the morning, as well as dragged me along, mile after mile, as she sniffed every bush along the way during our extensive walks in nature. She has alerted me to rattlesnakes in our path, and amused me immensely by hiding, then launching at me with her playful ambush tactics.  This little camper which we shared during our journey feels astoundingly, heartbreakingly empty without her.

I cannot express how much I appreciate any assistance you can offer in helping to reunite me with my baby girl; even if it is to only share this page so that more people will know that Maggie is out there.

Though it has been almost two weeks since she went missing, and I know she's no longer in the area, each day I return to spot I had last seen her with the hope that she'll be simply hiding behind a bush, lying perfectly still, excitedly waiting to perform her famous ambush on me once again.

Thank you,

Mark