Thursday, the 27th of May (2010) Ricochet went out in the morning to play and never came home.
Ricochet's home is on a farm in Lucketts VA, with every kind of farm animal around. He loves to ride horses with his people, go swimming, play fetch and chase the chickens. The farm is surrounded by woods, which Riki also loves. He is known to people on neighboring properties.
There has never been a sighting of Riki after the morning he disappeared. He is a fun, energetic, friendly dog who loves people, and it is believed that he would have gotten in the car with anyone who asked him to. So it is easy to imagine that he was picked up the very day he disappeared. It's hard to imagine that he is out roaming the countryside, unable to find his home - except that if given a chance to escape and set out in search of his home and family, he would do. But where he would start that journey from, we don't know.
A clue that Riki is living in someone's home emerged about a month after he was gone. Read about that by clicking on "The Kane Show Call" tab, above.
With or without that information, if that's what it is, we believe that Riki is being cared for, and that someone loves him and loves having him in their life. We believe that Riki is probably happy, since he's a happy dog that makes the best of every situation. But we believe that he knows he is not at home, and that he wants to be home with his family. We feel that if given a chance to leave, he would set off on his own to find his family.
And despite the call to the Kane Show, we don't have any expectation that whoever originally contained Riki -- in a car, with a leash, in their home, or however -- did so with malice or any ill intent.
We can believe that the first person that encountered him felt that they were acting as his rescuer. Riki had on two collars and he is microchipped, but we are aware that collars can come off, and that many people still don't know to have wandering/found dogs scanned for microchips. We know that people don't like to take found dogs to the animal shelter. We understand how it is possible that someone did previously or has now come to have Riki in their custody, and we have no interest in taking any kind of action against anyone. We just want Riki back home, where he belongs.
You may see Ricochet anywhere. We don't know where he is, but we think he is with people -- people that may or may not know that Riki's family is looking for him. If you think you see him, or if you see a dog that looks like him, please get in contact with us. Or take him to a vet or shelter, and ask that the dog be scanned for a microchip.
He is our best friend and we miss him terribly!
