Stolen Mother’s Day flowers led to the reunion of a family and their lost Shih Tzu
Always chip your pets.
A noble Shih Tzu and a bouquet of pink roses.
Two years ago, the Gonzales family let Leela (named after the one-eyed character played by Katey Sagal on “Futurama”), their Shih Tzu, outside to go to the bathroom and the dog never returned. "We searched for months down the neighborhood. We thought a coyote or something got her,” Mark Gonzales said according to My San Antonio. The family had given up all hope of finding Leela until a strange event bought them back together.
On Mothers Day at 8:20 pm, police were called to the H-E-B store in Lytle, Texas after reports that a man had fled the store after stealing a $15 bouquet of flowers.
"The guy gets into a car with paper tags and drives off," Lytle Police Chief Richard Priest said. "Then the [H-E-B manager] noticed the guy left a little brown Shih Tzu in the shopping cart. I've never had somebody leave their dog there when they commit a theft," Priest said. "Nothing says I love you mom like stolen flowers."
The police took the dog to a local shelter where its chip was checked and they discovered it belonged to the Gonzales family. The next day, Mark’s wife, Belinda, got a call from Lytle Animal Care and Control saying they had their long-lost dog.
"We were visiting a friend in the ICU, having breakfast, when she got the call," Mark said. "It was totally unexpected. Thank God my wife got her chipped, spayed and her shots back in 2018."
Gonzales said his wife is “tickled to death” to have Leela back home and that their son is in for a big surprise when they get home.
"When she got lost, he was eight. It feels good. I encourage people to chip their dogs, either way you might get your dog back," Gonzales said. "This is a strange way to get my dog back, but at least we got her back."
The police believe they know who the man is because he visited the shelter in an attempt to get the dog back after stealing the flowers. The suspect who is in his 40s faces a Class C citation for theft. The good news for the Gonzales family is that even though Leela was associated with the man who committed the crime, she won’t face any charges.
“The dog isn’t facing any charges, as we can’t prove he engaged in the theft,” Priest joked. “Hopefully, the dog hasn’t been on (a) 2-year crime spree and picked up bad habits.”
Studies show that microchip programs have been very effective at reuniting lost pets with their owners. A 2015 study on over 7700 microchipped animals found that the reclaim rates were substantially higher for pets with chips.
Chipped dogs that were picked up by shelters made it home 52% of the time, versus 22% of the non-chipped, and 39% of chipped cats found their owners versus just 2% of non-chipped.
If your dog is chipped make sure you have updated their information with the service provider. The study also found that 35% of pets with chips that wind up in shelters have an incorrect or disconnected phone number associated with the pet.
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."