Lenny's Close Shave

A bit of Island news to remind you that Grand Cayman really must be one of the friendliest and most caring places you'll find on this earth.

A story by Anna Wootton in the Caymanian Compass yesterday reports this warming story of how a Caymanian community rallied behind a search for an injured Bassett Hound.

"Last Monday night at around 8,40pm, Julie Allan and Jonathan Arch’s beloved Bassett Hound, Lenny, was hit by a car and dragged more than 50 feet before rolling out from under the car’s back bumper. Lenny then took himself off the road and disappeared into the bush, where he remained missing for nearly 48 hours."

According to the article, Julie Allan immediately emailed a friend of hers who works at dms, who then forwarded the email to everyone in her address book, and encouraged the recipients to do the same. In the next two days, an unexpected flood of support presented itself to Ms Allan and Mr. Arch who received over 50 emails and 30 phone calls. According to Ms Allan, “One woman was in town, and drove all the way back to East End, picked up her Bassett, and drove all the way back into town to help look for Lenny.”

Ms Allan was inspired by everyone’s involvement and kind comments, especially those of Gary Hagland, also an owner of Bassett Hounds.

(I didn't realise we had so many Bassett Hounds on the island!!! They're not indigenous )

It is thought that because Bassetts are so muscular and close to the ground the chances of a hound surviving being hit is greater than for other animals - this thought kept them going during the 2 day hunt.

Thankfully, Lenny was found at around 5pm last Wednesday, not quite 48 hours after he was first hit. He was hiding in the bushes and to everyone's surprise his injuries were slight.

The article says that Ms Allan and Mr Arch would both like to thank all of the people who responded to their email, and who came out and helped search themselves.


Photo and quotes from the Caymanian Compass