Man’s dog goes missing — a week later he receives a devastating note and collar inside mailbox
When a Mississippi man’s beloved dog went missing, he immediately set out to find her. After a week of no success, he found a devastating letter in his mailbox. It seemed that his 10-month-old wolfhound, Nymeria, had been shot by a neighbor. What was worse was that all Stricker got was a letter and her collar in his mailbox.
Nymeria goes missing in the middle of the night
Nymeria and her older brother, Ghost, had gone out at night to roam Stricker’s 10-acre property. When Ghost showed up without his sister the later that night, Stricker became worried. He immediately started looking for his missing dog.
“I looked every day, multiple times a day,” Stricker told the Sun Herald. “There were some days I came home early from work to look. I posted on social media, asked neighbors and drove up and down roads.”
Nymeria was one of the sweetest dogs Stricker has ever owned
According to Stricker, Nymeria was one of the sweetest dogs he knew. At 60 pounds she could be an intimidating presence to anyone who didn’t know her.
“There’s not a mean bone in her body,” Stricker said. “She was good with other dogs, good with kids. She was super lovable.”
What might have added to her appearance was that Nymeria only had one eye. She had lost it while playing with a stray as a pup. Nymeria was so lovable, that even after the loss of her eye, she continued to play and share her food with the same stray.
Stricker receives a heartbreaking note about Nymeria
Stricker had gotten Nymeria a large yellow collar and had placed an oversized tag on it. The tag had her photo, a description of her personality, and Stricker’s address. Instead of being contacted that someone had found his missing dog, he got a note in his mailbox instead. With the note was Nymeria’s collar.
The note was placed in Stricker’s mailbox six days after Nymeria went missing. As he read the note, Stricker was heartbroken. He pulled over while he digested what it said.
“I’m sorry to inform you that your dog was shot and killed Saturday night while digging through my garbage,” the anonymous note said. “It did not suffer and I did not take pleasure in killing It. There is a county leash law which you should abide by so that I do not have to kill any more of your pets.”
Worst of all, her body had not been returned.
“I was sick to my stomach,” Stricker said. “To think that someone killed her while we had been out looking for her, for digging in the garbage … An animal is not worth more than your trash or the time to make a phone call?”
There’s nothing Stricker can do
He posted about what had happened to Nymeria on his Facebook. The post had received about 3,000 shares within the week, with many area animal shelters sharing the post with the communities they served. Most of the posts were supportive, though there were some negative ones as well, according to Stricker.
Stricker contacted the sheriff’s department in rural Pearl River County. He was told that there was nothing he could do. Nymeria had been on another person’s property and property owners are protected in matters such as this. The leash laws in the county are pretty specific. Still, Stricker holds out hope that Nymeria’s body will be returned so that he can bury her and have closure.
“I’ve been looking for buzzards and vultures. I’ve asked on social media for whoever did It to leave her body at my driveway or even tell me where they dumped it,” Stricker said. “We don’t know what happened to her so there’s no closure.”
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