Bonnie the Missing Beagle Mix Earns Dog Show Honors Before Returning Home to Her Family
The saga of Bonnie the beagle mix sure seems like the popular Hollywood tales that pop up every 25 years or so. A young ingenue, lost in the big city, a little down on her luck. Suddenly, boom! A big shot director discovers her and casts her in his newest blockbuster. Fame and accolades abound!
That's pretty much what happened to Bonnie—except at a dog show in southern England rather than a feature film.
Bonnie started life on the streets of Crete (the Greek island), presumably picking pockets and generally living the life of a scrappy street urchin until an animal charity rescued her and put her up for adoption. Paula Closier then found the 1-year-old pup and brought her home to Bolney, England.
Everything was wine and roses for Bonnie with her forever family until Sunday when the 5-year-old dog slipped out of the house and into the streets. It was while she was loose that fate brought her to John Wilmer.
Wilmer was on his way to a dog show in nearby Felbridge with his own two pups.
"I was in a bit of a rush to get there when we found Bonnie and put her in the car," Wilmer told the BBC. "I left a message on Facebook before taking her to the show."
Once he got to the show, however, Wilmer decided Bonnie was no ordinary stray. She had Star Power.
"She was such a lovely dog, I thought it'd be good to enter her."
Wilmer's intuition paid off, and a day that started with Bonnie escaping from her home ended with her taking third place in the rescue dog class and returning home with a bright yellow rosette.
Not long after, the Closier family's online appeals and Wilmer's Facebook post about his foundling beagle mix connected, and Bonnie returned to her happy family. One can only hope that fame and fortune hasn't changed young Bonnie, but this very much looks like the face of a pupper who's no longer accepting the store-bought kibble in the morning.
"We were frantic as we live right by a main road," Closier told the BBC. "Bonnie used to be a street dog and we were so worried she wouldn't have known to come back.
"We're so thrilled she's safe and well and also a winner. You couldn't make this stuff up."