LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier was devastated when he returned home from deployment to find his dog was missing — and possibly sold on Craigslist.
JBLM soldier Brandon Harker turns to social media to find his missing dog, believed to be sold during his deployment.
Brandon Harker returned last week after an 8-month deployment to Afghanistan. He was excited to see Oakley, his 2-year-old purebred yellow Labrador retriever.
Harker had asked a friend to take care of Oakley while he was deployed. When he contacted the friend to pick him up, he was told the dog had been given away.
He turned to social media to find his dog and was contacted by numerous people who said they’d seen Oakley listed for sale in February on Craigslist. Harker has been calling local veterinarians and shelters, hoping for word on his dog since Oakley is micro-chipped and registered.
“I am just trying to get him back since he was wrongfully given away or sold without my permission while I was deployed,” Harker said.
To see the Craigslist ad or to contact Harker, click here.
Oakley is a two-year-old purebred yellow labrador retriever.
Eileen Breen
Thanks for serving our country. I'm sorry to hear about your dog. Do they have a national site where Vets can read microchips on pet's and they can come up stolen or missing like a stolen car?
Deb Bedoll
We are PACT for Animals, a 501(c)(3) that connects pre-screened foster families with military members and local hospital patients who need temporary pet care. I wish Brandon had known about our organization, because this is exactly what we are here to prevent. We are currently in the PA-NY area but aim to expand throughout the entire USA within 5 years, so that horror stories like Brandon and Oakley's will never happen again. Please go to our website http://www.PACTforAnimals.org or call 610-581-4141 for more info, to donate, or to become a foster family yourself. We thank the military for their service to our country, I hope we can give them some peace of mind and hope in return.
deb
I ran across this story on my FB page. Did he ever find his dog? I haven't heard anything about it since this was first publicized.