Vicki
Administrator
18 hours ago • By ERIN ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star
3
Dani and Jason Windham are in need of wings — or at least some dog-loving angels — to help get their long-lost bull mastiff Koda to their new home in Camp Verde, Arizona.
On Aug. 4, just hours before their wedding, the couple’s three giant dogs knocked over a hastily rebuilt fence and took off across Lincoln.
The Windhams and their parents frantically searched, to no avail.
Dani and Jason stopped long enough to say their vows, but then immediately returned home to 40th and Randolph streets and resumed the search.
Two of the dogs, Finn and Hooch, were found in Havelock that night. But Koda, a 115-pound hulking mass of goofy love, was still missing, and the Windhams were moving to Arizona in just seven days, where Jason was enrolled in a sheriff's academy.
“I posted on every Facebook page and Craigslist category I could think of,†Dani said. "I notified everyone. I called the animal shelters in Lincoln, Omaha and Beatrice." She enlisted the help of Lost Pets of Lancaster County.
After the move, Dani came back to Lincoln and spent two more weeks looking for Koda. Hope faded, and at times Dani actually wished Koda was dead rather than suffering or being abused.
Then on Wednesday, as Jason Windham was finishing his shift at the sheriff’s department, he checked his voicemail and found a message: “This is Green Acre Veterinary Clinic in Wahoo. We have a stray bull mastiff, brindle female."
It was Koda.
“As soon as he told me I was bawling,†Dani Windham said in a telephone interview.
She hardly slept that night, and called the clinic the minute it opened the following morning: Was Koda all right? Had the dog, whom she had rescued from sketchy Craiglist sellers, been used for dog fighting or been abused? How much did she weigh?
“Koda had such a rough start.†Dani said, referring to the dubious dealings they had with her Craigslist sellers. They later learned Koda had been bought and sold five times in the week before they adopted her.
Clinic staff assure the Windhams that Koda is in good health, although she’s down to 95 pounds.
A farmer 10 miles northwest of Wahoo had seen the dog chasing his cattle on Wednesday. He took the dog to Green Acre, where staff immediately scanned her for a microchip embedded under her skin that would identify her.
The biggest hurdle now is getting Koda to her new home. The Windhams can't afford to fly up and get her, nor can they take the time off to drive — a 46-hour round trip. Given Koda’s traumatic history, they don’t want to ship her like freight through an airline. They worry she may get loose and run again.
They are seeking help from other dog lovers: pilots who may be flying to Arizona, snowbirds heading southwest for the winter, someone willing to loan them or sell them a giant travel crate for transport, or anyone else with a plan and a means to get a giant dog back to her family.
If you can help, call or text Dani Windham at 425-351-3911 or email her at dlarsen@huskers.unl.edu. People can also contact Lost Pets of Lancaster County on Facebook.
Dani Windham also has some advice for pet owners: Get them microchipped.
“That microchip in Koda is the only reason we are getting her back,†she said.
Found mastiff needs an airlift to new home : Lincoln, NE Journal Star
3
Dani and Jason Windham are in need of wings — or at least some dog-loving angels — to help get their long-lost bull mastiff Koda to their new home in Camp Verde, Arizona.
On Aug. 4, just hours before their wedding, the couple’s three giant dogs knocked over a hastily rebuilt fence and took off across Lincoln.
The Windhams and their parents frantically searched, to no avail.
Dani and Jason stopped long enough to say their vows, but then immediately returned home to 40th and Randolph streets and resumed the search.
Two of the dogs, Finn and Hooch, were found in Havelock that night. But Koda, a 115-pound hulking mass of goofy love, was still missing, and the Windhams were moving to Arizona in just seven days, where Jason was enrolled in a sheriff's academy.
“I posted on every Facebook page and Craigslist category I could think of,†Dani said. "I notified everyone. I called the animal shelters in Lincoln, Omaha and Beatrice." She enlisted the help of Lost Pets of Lancaster County.
After the move, Dani came back to Lincoln and spent two more weeks looking for Koda. Hope faded, and at times Dani actually wished Koda was dead rather than suffering or being abused.
Then on Wednesday, as Jason Windham was finishing his shift at the sheriff’s department, he checked his voicemail and found a message: “This is Green Acre Veterinary Clinic in Wahoo. We have a stray bull mastiff, brindle female."
It was Koda.
“As soon as he told me I was bawling,†Dani Windham said in a telephone interview.
She hardly slept that night, and called the clinic the minute it opened the following morning: Was Koda all right? Had the dog, whom she had rescued from sketchy Craiglist sellers, been used for dog fighting or been abused? How much did she weigh?
“Koda had such a rough start.†Dani said, referring to the dubious dealings they had with her Craigslist sellers. They later learned Koda had been bought and sold five times in the week before they adopted her.
Clinic staff assure the Windhams that Koda is in good health, although she’s down to 95 pounds.
A farmer 10 miles northwest of Wahoo had seen the dog chasing his cattle on Wednesday. He took the dog to Green Acre, where staff immediately scanned her for a microchip embedded under her skin that would identify her.
The biggest hurdle now is getting Koda to her new home. The Windhams can't afford to fly up and get her, nor can they take the time off to drive — a 46-hour round trip. Given Koda’s traumatic history, they don’t want to ship her like freight through an airline. They worry she may get loose and run again.
They are seeking help from other dog lovers: pilots who may be flying to Arizona, snowbirds heading southwest for the winter, someone willing to loan them or sell them a giant travel crate for transport, or anyone else with a plan and a means to get a giant dog back to her family.
If you can help, call or text Dani Windham at 425-351-3911 or email her at dlarsen@huskers.unl.edu. People can also contact Lost Pets of Lancaster County on Facebook.
Dani Windham also has some advice for pet owners: Get them microchipped.
“That microchip in Koda is the only reason we are getting her back,†she said.
Found mastiff needs an airlift to new home : Lincoln, NE Journal Star
