ROUND ROCK, Tx. — A Texas family is starting the New Year on a positive note, after a rough month. Their miniature poodle P.B., short for polar bear, that went missing while being boarded at a local kennel last month, has been found alive.
The Graves family said the kindness of many strangers made the reunion possible after they had all but lost hope they’d ever see P.B. again.
On December 1, their Round Rock dog boarder lost him while the family was out of town.
Polar Bear (Credit: KEKE)
It was a sad story the family’s mail carrier, Daniel Maltby, just couldn’t shake.
“When you put the dog in a place where you expect it to be safe and you come back from a vacation and it’s gone. That’s just horrible,” Maltby told KEYE.
Maltby took the family’s fliers and passed them out to other mail carriers in the area. Three weeks later, someone, spotted him on their route.
“I was absolutely shocked,” said Maltby.
No one could catch little P.B., who is wary of strangers, but he immediately recognized his family.
“He just ran up to me as I was bending down and he just jumped right into my arms and I just started started sobbing,” said his mother, Rebecca Graves.
P.B. spent 30 days in the cold and rain, living in the woods.
“He survived in the brush area where there’s coyotes and raccoons and who knows what,” said his stepdad, Ed Orlin.
P.B. lost half his body weight, was severely dehydrated and was covered with fleas, but the vet said he’ll make a full recovery.
Rebecca Graves said she can’t thank her community enough for helping bring P.B. home.
“The kindness of the human heart. I just, it overwhelmed me.”
