Rest In Peace Penny - January 10th, 2008 - December 7th, 2008

It is with my deepest regrets that I am unfortunately informing you of Penny’s passing.

Yesterday, five months after she went missing her body was discovered. She wasn’t far from our home and it seems like she passed suddenly, very soon after she went missing. Toronto Animal Services picked her up and my boyfriend confirmed it was her. They said that she had been hit by a train or a car on the Queensway, moved to the side in some bushes and passed on very shortly after. They told us she probably did not suffer.

It appears that she had passed on shortly after running off, she was still wearing her collar and jacket. No “sighting” of Penny was ever of her with the jacket still on. Still, those sightings and every single one of our efforts in the last five months gave us the hope and the time that we needed to be ok. We never gave up, and so many of you stood by us the entire time. Somehow over those months we slowly came to understand that we might not ever find her and although this is the most heartbreaking ending, we finally have our closure. We had hoped that the sightings were true, but the thought of her being outside alone for months was heartbreaking, perhaps it is better that she went right away. I only hope that she continued to bounce around, run and play until the very end. And I pray she knew that our love for her is, and always will be, immense.

I cannot describe how devastated we are. Penny spent only a short time with us, but changed our lives forever. She also gave us an incredible amount of hope. Losing her brought us to so many truly incredible people, people who have hearts of gold, just like she did. Despite her physical presence being gone for five months to the day, we have felt her with us all along and only wanted our happy ending. Still, animals seem to teach their lessons with ease compared to us and they need less time to make a huge difference in the world. I don’t doubt that Penny has affected many of you and I know that our never-ending love for her has reached thousands.

I want to thank everyone for their efforts, thoughts, prayers and hope. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of people to rely on. You all helped us stay strong though this and I know we couldn’t have done this without each of you. If you see any posters for Penny, please take them down and please notify anyone you may have contacted.

As Scott and I continue to grieve for Penny we will be making some changes too. We had decided before receiving the news of Penny’s passing to bring another dog into our home. We had hoped that Penny would still return and we could have two dogs. There is a dog that needs us and although we hurt so much for Penny, our pain has been there for five months. We hope that another dog will keep us strong, we need her as much as she needs us right now. We know that she won’t be Penny, no dog could fill those pawprints – ever, but she’ll be different and she’ll give us new reasons to love her and new reasons to stay hopeful.

I don’t doubt that Penny was needed somewhere else more than she was with us. If there ever was an animal meant to be an angel, it is our sweet Penny. I hope and pray that she is somewhere with no pain, lots of toys and many other dogs to play with. And I hope that she knows that each and every one of you cared for her.

Thank you for not giving up, for being there for us and for helping Penny. Wherever she is, I’m sure she knows that so many people love her.

She will be missed forever and remembered with a smile always.

Alana Cowl and Scott Simon

Still No Penny.

Penny has been gone for months now and we've got no answers. There were so many sightings in the beginning and now none. We call Toronto Animal Services all the time, they have not found her body.

We don't know if she's still outside on her own or if someone has found her. It seems more likely that someone has found her. We can only hope that if someone has taken her they realize it was the wrong thing to do, we need her back. Our hearts still ache with indescribable pain for our missing family member. We still desperately wait for the day when Penny will be reunited with us.

If you know who has Penny, please contact me. We need her back. Her absence is felt every moment of every day.

I will continue to update with any news that I receive.

Penny Is Missing

Penny was lost in High Park on Sunday December 7th at 2pm. We have been told that she was hit by a car that night at 7pm on Bloor St. West at High Park Ave., but she kept running and we were told she didn't seem badly hurt.

Penny is a Louisiana hurricane survivor and lived through both Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Ike, and has been a stray for most of her life. We need to bring her home safely, the devastation that her loss has brought to our family is widespread and indescribable.

She is a 35lb spayed female, 1 year old. She looks like a Pointer, Hound cross and is very skinny. She has a white dappled coat with large apricot coloured patches with a white spot on top of her head. She has large floppy ears that are a solid apricot colour. She has an upside-down heart shape on her left side. She is very timid and frightens easily. She was wearing a jacket when she was lost. It was black with silver reflective lines. She was last seen with her collar still on.

It is believed that she has been seen many times since she was lost. Most recently we heard that on Monday February 23rd, Penny was seen on Dundas St. Unfortunately, the person that left us a message did not give any specifics of time, additional streets or contact information. Hopefully we will hear back from them once they realize they left out important details. They did say that she was very skinny, very frightened and impossible to catch, despite their efforts.

We think that Penny was seen at Humberside and Indian Grove on the night of January 20th. She was alone and was not wearing her black jacket, but her collar was still on. We confirmed this sighting with a tracking dog and were able to pick up her trail immediately, but it ended suddenly.

We had also heard that a teenaged boy was been seen recently walking a dog that matches Penny's physical description as well as her habits while walking on leash, they walk on St. Clair Avenue West. He walks between Winona Drive and Arlington Avenue and crosses at Arlington. We have put posters up all over the St. Clair area, but many are being taken down. We are starting to think that if someone has her, they do not plan to give her back, although the majority of our sightings are of Penny alone outside. We urgently need our story to spread across Toronto, surely someone knows where Penny is.

We have gone well beyond the normal forms of trying to find Penny we've;
∙Searched for over 300 hours
∙Hand-delivered 2000 flyers
∙Put up over 500 posters in 135 parks
∙Hired a distribution company to deliver 15,000 flyers locally
∙Used a tracking dog to confirm sightings
∙Contacted every Vet in Toronto
∙Contacted every Animal Shelter in Ontario
∙Checked and posted on every lost dog website, repeatedly
∙Placed ads in the Toronto Star and Bloor West Villager
∙Got our story on 98.1fm
∙Got our story on CBC Radio
∙Appeared on CP24 News
∙Had the story featured in the Toronto Star
∙Had the story in the Metro
∙Had the story in the Bloor West Villager
∙Had the story featured on CTV News online
∙Created a facebook group
∙Offered a $1500 reward for her safe return
∙Offered an alternate reward - I will cook for whomever finds her once a week for a year (I am classically trained from George Brown and have cooked for TV's Iron Chef Morimoto)

Penny has a microchip and was wearing brown and green collar when she was lost. She also has a Toronto license.
Microchip: 982009105462418
Toronto: D08-111774
PetLynx: AA55279

We know she is out there, but we need more help. We're running out of ideas, hope and money. We need to reach everyone in Toronto. Please email this to everyone you know that may be of help, and even people who may know someone who could help. We will do anything to get her back. We refuse to give up. Penny needs to come home.

Thank-you so much for helping us to bring Penny home,
Alana Cowl
vegan_girl88@hotmail.com

Postering Parks for Penny/Latest News

Most recently we heard that on Monday February 23rd, Penny was seen on Dundas St. Unfortunately, the person that left us a message did not give any specifics of time, additional streets or contact information. Hopefully we will hear back from them once they realize they left out important details. They did say that she was very skinny, very frightened and impossible to catch, despite their efforts.

We are positive that Penny was seen at Humberside and Indian Grove on the night of January 20th. She was alone and was not wearing her black jacket, but her collar was still on. We confirmed this sighting with a tracking dog and were able to pick up her trail immediately, but it ended suddenly.

We had also heard that a teenaged boy was seen recently walking a dog that matches Penny's physical description as well as her habits while walking on leash, they walk on St. Clair Avenue West. He walks between Winona Drive and Arlington Avenue and crosses at Arlington. We have put posters up all over the St. Clair area, but many are being taken down. We are starting to think that if someone has her, they do not plan to give her back, although the majority of our sightings are of Penny alone outside. We urgently need our story to spread across Toronto, surely someone knows where Penny is.

In a continued effort to find Penny, we started Posters for Penny - a City-Wide Search. We are calling all good samaratins of Toronto to help us bring Penny home safely.

Thank-you to all who helped poster the parks. The city has aked that we stop and has decided not to fine us for our posters at this time.

Other places that can still be postered are pet stores, groomers, grocery stores and any other high-traffic areas.

As any postering is being done, I would like to know, so I can keep track of which areas have been reached. I will gladly send you a poster that can be used and Penny's story is above. Please pass this on to every person you know, even if you don't think that they could be helpful.

Here's the list of the parks that people have kindly offered to poster for Penny. If you would like to help please email me and I will send you the poster.

Thanks,.
Alana Cowl
vegan_girl88@hotmail.com

Parks that have been done:
1. Lake CR Park
2. Mimico Memorial Park
3. Norris Park
4. Amo Waites Park
5. Superior Park
6. Queens Park
7. Manchester Park
8. Grand Avenue Park
9. and 10. Humber Bay Park (East and West)
11. Humber Bay Shore Park
12. Palace Pier Park
13. Woodford Park
14. Berry Road Park
15. Reid Manor Park
16. Sunnylea Park
17. Kings Mill Park
18. Bell Manor Park
19. South Humber Park
20. LM Montgomery Park
21. South Kingsway Parkette
22. Park Lawn Park
23. Etienne Brule Park
24. Lessard Park
25. Cashman Park
26. Home Smith Park
27. Lambton Kingsway Park
28. Magwood Park
29. Grand Park
30. Lambton Park
31. Lambton Woods Park
32. Smythe Park
33. James Gardens
34. Noble Park
35. Scarlett Mills Park
36. Buttonwood Park
37. Scarlet Heights Park
38. Sir Casimir Gzowski Park
39. Sunnyside Park
40. Budapest Park
41. Ormskirk Park
42. Coe Hill Parkette
43. Rennie Park
44. Walker Avenue Ravine Land
45. Rambert Crescent Parkette
46. Willard Gardens Parkette
47. High Park
48. George Chater Park
49. Neill McLellan Park
50. Kennedy Park
51. Parkview Gardens Parkette
52. Chelsea Avenue Playground
53. Oakmount/Lithuania Park
54. Glenlake Square Park – two Parks
55. Beresford Park
56. Ravina Gardens
57. Park Lands
58. Malta Park
59. Vine Avenue Playground
60. Maria Street Parkette
61. Runnymede Park
62. Keele-Mullock Parkette
63. Gaffney/ Harwood/ Weston-Gunns Parks
64. Cayuga Park
65. Dalrymple Park
66. Jasper/ Westlake Memorial Park
67. Gladhurst Park
68. Keelesdale Park/Coronation Park
69. Baird Park
70. Dundas-Watkinson Park
71. Marilyn Bell Park
72. Close Springhurst Parkette
73. Spencer Cowan Park
74. Close Avenue Playground
75. Beaty Parkette
76. Dunn Avenue Parkette
77. Melbourne Parkette
78. Grafton Avenue Parkette
79. Albert Crosland Park
80. McCormick Playground
81. West Lodge Park
82. Charles G Williams Park
83. Sorauren Avenue Park
84. Columbus Playground
85. MacGregor Playground
86. Ritchie Avenue Parkette
87. Erwin Kirchkahn Park
88. Perth Avenue Parkette
89. Cambell Avenue Playground
90. Perth Park
91. Wallace-Emerson Park
92. Symington Avenue Playground
93. Carlton Park
94. Pelham Avenue Playground
95. Brandon Avenue Parkette (three Parks)
96. Primrose Avenue Parkette
97. Earlscourt Park
98. Wadsworth Park
99. St. Clair Gardens
100. Naith Park
101. Bert Robinson Park
102. Haverson Park
103. Little Norway Park
104. Battery Park
105. Coronation Park
106. Lakeshore Park
107. Stanley Park
108. Joseph Workman Parkette
109. Trinity-Bellwoods Park
110. Osler Playground
111. Roxton Road Parkette
112. George Ben Park
113. Fred Hamilton Playground
114. Dufferin Grove Park
115. Harbord Park
116. Healey Willan Park
117. Bickford Park
118. Salem Parkette/ Westmoreland Avenue Parkette/ Bloor-Ossington Playground
119. Irene Avenue Parkette
120. Christie Pits Park
121. Euclid Avenue Parkette
122. Dovercourt Park
123. Vermont Square
124. Geary Avenue Parkette
125. Melita Park
126. Hillcrest Park
127. Davenport Square
128. Wychwood Park
129. Humewood Park
130. Brereton Park
131. Cedarvale Park
132. Cedarvale
133. Fairbank Memorial Park
134. Birkdale Ravine, Scarborough
135. Thompson Park, Scarborough