Evidence suggests ailing pet not sent to “nice farm”

TORONTO, ON –  Nine year old Toronto Ontario resident Ashley Manheim says she has found evidence to suggest ‘Dukey’, her 11-year-old mixed breed hound did not go away to live at a “nice farm”, as her parents told her.

Teary eyed, but resolute during a news conference at the Humane Society where the fourth grade student volunteers after school, Ashley pointed to recent veterinarian bills that showed her dog had been given tests to determine the need for a stomach operation, but that the operation, estimated to cost $1600, was not performed.

“At that point, the trail ends,” said Ashley. “My dog must be found, and quickly. Until he can get that operation, he will die. He requires expensive dog medicines to keep him alive.”

Ashley’s parents Robert and Julia Manheim of Corley Avenue in Toronto stand by their statements that Dukey is now enjoying farm life. “He is surrounded by other dogs and cats, and gets to chase chickens from time to time,” said Mrs Manheim.

“It is deep in farm country,” explained Robert Manheim. “Near a what do you call it? A dell. Near a dell. Too far away to visit, as the very nicest farms often are.”

The precise location of the farm was not confirmed but Manheim stated that the dog was taken away by “a nice man, a farmer.” According to Manheim, the farmer’s last name was either “Brown or MacDonald”, and his first name was “Farmer or Old”.

“This story is utterly implausible,” said Ashley. “I believe my parents have been duped, and that Dukey has in fact been abducted. He is a very special dog, and would probably be worth a lot of money on the pet black market.”

Ashley’s own investigations have led her to point an accusing finger at the staff of the Scarborough Road Animal Clinic in Toronto.

“It was where Dukey was last seen,” said Ashley. “I believe that one or more evil vets at the clinic took Dukey. Probably the skinny woman with the black hair in a bun. My trusting parents, who loved our dog, were tricked into believing that Dukey was sent to some farm that might not even exist.”

Dr. Alice Balkany the owner of the clinic, confirmed that Dukey was treated there but said the specifics were “confidential”.

Balkany suggested that she would have no choice but to take legal action if members of the Manhiem family slandered her business in the press, or continued to pick through office garbage bags in search of clues.

“I can promise you,” said Balkany, “if this goes on much longer, the legal costs to the Manheims will far exceed the $1,600 it would have cost them to avoid this whole sorry incident.”

Ashley’s mother, was later seen leaving the Manheim home in tears. Witnesses overheard her shouting, “If you hadn’t just bought that big screen TV, we wouldn’t have had to… send Dukey to the farm – Farmer Brown’s farm, in farm country.”