Couple says dog ran away at kennel

They say they came home after spending the Thanksgiving holiday out of town to find one of their dogs missing. Josh Carroll and Tamara Richards have three pit bulls. They say they dropped them off at the Taj Mapaw kennel on Franklin Road so they could go out of the town.

Last Saturday, the kennel called to tell them one of their dogs, Lil Girl- a three-year-old white pit bull with black spots, was missing.

On Hunting Hills Drive on Monday, Richards was passing out flyers to people driving by.

“A local boarding kennel has lost my dog. Her name is little Lil Girl.  If you see her anywhere - if you can, please call me. She’s been seen up here somewhere,” Richards said to one driver.

Josh Carroll is Richards’ boyfriend and walked “Shooter,” Lil Girl’s brother. He was hoping the dog would smell Lil Girl.

“So now we have a dog with no collar running through the woods in the cold, the wind, and the rain. It’s kinda tough to catch a dog with no collar if it doesn’t know you,” Carroll said.

Carroll said the last time anybody saw Lil Girl was on Falcon Ridge Road in the Hunting Hills area. That was more than 24 hours ago, but that is where they’re still looking.

Ten On Your Side talked to the owner of Taj Mapaw, Chris Benson. He says Lil Girl was in a caged area outside for a routine break. After one of the workers went back inside, she came out and saw the dog was gone.

Benson also said they ask people dropping off their dogs for special instructions so they can better care for the dogs. He claims it wasn’t until after Lil Girl went missing that the couple said their dogs can jump fences. Benson said, if they had been forewarned, they wouldn’t have left the dog alone and would have had her on a leash.

However, Carroll claims they never said Lil Girl could jump fences.

When Ten On Your Side asked Benson if the couple will have to pay the bill, he said now’s not the time to talk about money.

But no matter what happened or how she got out, the most important thing for both sides is finding Lil Girl.