Couple breaks car window to rescue dog, only to find stuffed toy

Blake and Marla Handley didn’t know whether to be grateful or irritated when they found their car window broken open to relieve the heat stress for their “dog,” lying unresponsive in the back seat.

They could be grateful because as honoured supporters of the SPCA, the Handleys have to appreciate the motive. But they could be irritated because the rescued dog was a stuffed toy and they are looking at a $200 bill to fix the window.

“It was such a sweet gesture but it was done for the wrong reason,” Blake Handley said.

It happened on Wednesday when the couple attended a special luncheon at the Ocean Point Resort laid on by the SPCA in honour of longtime donors. Marla Handley has supported the animal-protection organization for decades.

Blake Handley was pleased with himself that day because he had found a spot to park on the street.

But after lunch as they returned to their 2000 Honda Civic, the Handleys were approached by a couple who asked if they had seen their car and its broken window. The couple then confessed. The Handleys never learned their names, but the story they told had them noticing the car in the hot sun with the dog in the rear seat. They knocked on the windows. They jostled the vehicle to set off the car alarm. Finally, they telephoned police, who told them to go ahead and break a window.

“Poor fellow even cut his hand when he did it,” Blake Handley said.

The first thought occurring to the Handleys was that Rory, the name they gave the toy, had been stolen. The toy was picked up at Value Village about 20 years ago after the death of the living Rory, their beloved family pet, a bearded collie that died at age 14.

The couple always travel with the toy Rory, across Canada and the U.S. He is a talisman for a family that really loves bearded collies.

The Handleys now have two live ones, MacPherson and Precious.

But unlike the toy Rory the real dogs ride only in the couple’s pickup under a canopy, never in the car.

As for the toy Rory, Handley said the couple who broke the window are not the first to be fooled. Crossing the border has often prompted agents to ask after the breed.

“I always go: ‘It’s the kind with the price tag in his ear,’” Handley said.

He will not dispute the genuine concern that prompted the couple to break his car’s window.

“They could have just walked away, but it’s to their credit they stayed behind. They were so sweet about it and we are concerned about animals, too, so it was actually kind of nice.”