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QUESTION: I was wondering about the missing bulldog that the owners were offering a $1,000 reward for. Was it ever found? Do they know what might have happened? It’s horrible to think who might have taken the dog.
ANSWER: As of yesterday it’s been two weeks since Polo, the 120-pound, almost-2-year-old American bulldog has been missing.
Andy, who did not want to give his last name, said Polo and his brother escaped from the family yard at about 6 p.m. Sept. 20 and was seen running on Chun’s Beach in Haleiwa.
"The small one came back but the big one didn’t," he said. "At this point in time, we suspect that somebody picked him up and has him at home."
The family is clinging to that hope.
Andy said someone called him Sunday night to say they remember seeing a "local-type kid with a black truck" pick up a dog that looked like Polo. "A younger guy was trying to get the dog" in the vehicle.
The family is hoping that "someone might have him at home innocently and (is) not seeing the ads."
They’re also trying to see whether they can put posters in schools.
Polo was not wearing a collar at the time and does not have a microchip ID.
When told $1,000 was a lot of money to be offering, Andy chuckled. "He’s a lot of dog."
He’s "a big ugly dog" but he’s "a pussycat," he said. "Everybody (in the family) is kind of distraught losing him. They become family members. It’s kind of hard when you’ve been with them 24/7."
If anyone has information, call 284-7755. As the ads say, no questions asked.
QUESTION: Is it true that if you call 911 for a police nonemergency and hang up before it’s answered, 911 will call you back? And, if you fail to answer the call-back, police will show up at your doorstep?
ANSWER: Yes, that’s true, said Michelle Yu, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department.
Any time you call 911, whether for an emergency or nonemergency, then hang up for whatever reason, someone will respond, she said.
QUESTION: My child was put on the wait list for a flu shot even though his consent form was turned in on time. A letter from his school states that the flu shot company collected the consent forms before the due date. Since his teacher did not turn them in before then, my son was wait-listed. I don’t think he should be penalized when the paperwork was turned in on time. Can you help?
ANSWER: You have since informed us that it was the school that missed the deadline.
The positive news is that the Department of Health is "very hopeful" that students wait-listed for the flu shot will be accommodated.
The Sept. 9 deadline for submitting "Stop Flu at School" consent forms was made known to all schools, advertised on radio and announced on TV and in newspapers, said Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
The department sympathizes with parents who missed the deadline, but must stick to the schedule in order to coordinate with 330 schools statewide, she said.
The deadline provides enough lead time to organize hundreds of clinics, purchase the vaccine and train personnel to run the clinics.
"If our vaccine supplies arrive as expected, it is very likely we will provide flu vaccination to those wait-listed," Okubo said.
