LOST DOG: Prayer and Penny prevail

On Aug. 25 around 10 a.m., we had a delivery and left our gate open. Our small dog, a 4-pound female Chihuahua named Reba, slipped out of the house, and out of the gate and was gone before we knew it. Despite our best efforts to locate her by driving all over town calling her name, my wife contacted the Rathdrum Police Department, and they said they would leave a message for the officer in charge of animal control, named Penny. With darkness descending, my wife and I went into prayer mode. This small dog went missing for three days and two nights before we finally got a call from Officer Penny who stated she had gotten a call from a lady down by Stub Meyer Park about a small dog that may be ours. We met Penny who then showed us to the woman’s home. We located our dog in some bushes in front of the lady’s house.

The distance was at least a mile from our house, and at some point she would have had to cross Highway 41, but aside from being thirsty and hungry, not a hair on her little head had been injured. Make no mistake, this little dog was returned to us by the Lord our God via the prayer of faith, but the Lord used the kind lady who called Officer Penny, and He used Officer Penny, to bring about the safe return of our little Reba.

This is the second time I have had occasion to contact the RPD since the arrival of the new Police Chief, Kevin Fuhr, and I can tell you that my personal contacts have been like night and day compared to what they were prior to his arrival. He brought with him a sense of values, and professionalism that had been missing, at least in practice.

Yes, they now deliver fair, unbiased, courteous and caring response, and the change is commendable, but conspicuously absent from their impressive list of values on their website, is the need for interactive communications with the members of the community who may have important questions about what they do, and why they do it. Even among our tears of relief and thankfulness, Officer Penny was professional, but not robotic. She showed genuine compassion and understanding which was much appreciated in those circumstances.

BILL JOHNSON

Rathdrum