Pooh Bear go home

It's 12:03 a.m. and I'm sitting in the dark under a blanket on my couch. I can't sleep. The thought of this lost Bichon Frise in my neighborhood has been killing me for weeks.
Where is this dog?
Did someone steal him/her?
Was he/she killed by a passing car?
Did he/she run away with a maverick beagle in town?
Is he/she sucking on spaghetti from a restaurant dumpster in an alley off Central Avenue?

About a month ago (maybe longer) someone started posting these flyers on street posts and trees in Old Northeast. At first they simply asked for the safe return of their dog, who I might add "needs medicine," and is "very old" and when returned "no questions asked."

The reward is set at $5,000. Today while driving north on 4th Street I noticed the Bichon's heartbroken owners had rented billboard space at 22nd Ave. Billboard space!

Maybe it's because I don't have kids. Maybe it's because I'm crazy in love with my own dog. Maybe it's because it's sickening to think a stranger might harm this old Bichon. Maybe it's because my dog curled himself into a tight spiral tonight filling the space Joe and I make for him when we crawl into bed. Maybe it's because my heart breaks for the person in my neighborhood who is laying in bed mourning the whereabouts of her dog.

Joe and I picture this person like this:

female.
elderly.
a single-dog owner.
sweet-natured and trusting of other people.
fairly well-off.
sensitive.
pampering of the dog.
owns several framed photos of the dog (pre-dognapping).

Please will someone return this dog.

Ps. I just found this St. Pete Times story. The dog's name is Pooh Bear and Joe and I were (almost) absolutely right about its owner, Patricia Bonati, known to Old Northeast dog lovers as The Poodle Lady. According to Bonati, she was walking her dogs - some of which are rescued poodles - along the Vinoy Basin around 5:45 a.m. on April 7 when the 15-year-old Pooh Bear, apparently off his leash, mysteriously disappeared. Bonati said, "It's like the Earth swallowed my dog."

Wah?

Bonati also hired a pet detective. Phone in your Pooh Bear tips to (813) 892-1865.