Update 1:40 p.m.
A dog that went missing after it was dropped off at the Moore Lane Veterinary Hospital has been found.
The family of Laurel woman Cindy Meeks posted photos on the Facebook page Lost/Found Pets of Billings of the reuniting of Meeks and her husband with the lost pup, Frankie.
"FRANKIE HAS BEEN FOUND!!’ thank you EVERYONE for helping us reunite my nana and papa with their baby Frankie," stated the caption.
(first report) A Laurel family is frantically searching for its dog after dropping it off at a veterinary clinic in Billings.
The Meeks family said they dropped the dog off at the Moore Lane Veterinary Hospital, and the dog ran away.
The family met to organize another search on Wednesday night after a call came in that morning that the dog was missing.
There's not much information coming in on how the dog became missing, and there's not much direction for the family on where to look for the pet.
The Meeks family looked for Frankie the dachshund through parts of Billings close to the veterinary clinic.
"She's never done this," said Cindy Meeks. "I'm sure she's scared."
Meeks lives in Laurel and says she left Frankie at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, thinking she would see her pet soon.
"I left her there hoping she was safe, assuming she was going to be safe, and she wasn't," Meeks said.
Shortly after that Frankie escaped from the hospital, where she was scheduled to get spayed.
"They got a phone call about nine minutes after 10 saying that the dog was missing," said Amber Achten, Meeks' daughter. "They had lost the dog."
"She had got out," Meeks said. "They were taking her out to go potty. It was 10 minutes before surgery. They took her up to go potty and she ran out the gate with the leash."
They asked to look at the surveillance video and finally had a chance to view it in the evening.
But up until that point had not been able to receive that or any other information.
"I think that they need to take a little bit more responsibility and maybe help or direct us or give us the truth," Achten said. "Or give us more people. It's negligent."
Achten, along with her husband, children, father and sisters, left work to help with the search.
Moore Lane Veterinary Hospital management would not comment but referred MTN News to the legal department of the National Veterinary Association, which has not yet returned a message.
The family has explored in several directions and received little help from the clinic but saw the hospital manager while searching.
"I met him at the corner of Central and Sixth Avenue," Meeks said. "And he said that was the last time they'd seen her and she headed south. That was one thing we heard. And then we heard she headed east. So we don't know."
For now, the family keeps walking through the nearby neighborhoods.
"Just taking the squeaker toy and treats and she'll show up," Achten said. "We'll find her."
