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Stolen sunshade puts damper on Lower Mainland woman’s pet-relief effort

Broken umbrella taken from White Rock lawn ‘within 10 minutes’

Leslie Davison is shaking her head at the latest target of thieves in her neighbourhood – a broken umbrella.

But it wasn’t just any broken umbrella; it was one she’d put out to shade a water dish she leaves at the edge of her White Rock lawn for neighbourhood dogs to quench their thirst.

“I thought it was genius to do that,” Davison said of the effort to keep the water out of the sun, which has brought temperatures of 30-plus degrees in recent days.

“In this heat, it’s so important for dogs to keep cool.

“But it was gone so quick.”

Davison, who has two dogs of her own, said she planted the multi-coloured parasol – it used to be attached to a beach chair – firmly into the ground behind the water dish around 9 a.m. Monday.

It disappeared within 10 minutes.

“I just thought, how sad, when it’s clearly for the dogs,” she said.

Removed from the ground, the brolly wouldn’t even stay open on its own, she noted, describing it as a “tiny, crappy little umbrella.”

“It wasn’t anything of worth.”

Davison said Wednesday she will replace the umbrella, “I just got a sad giggle from” the theft.

The incident was the second piece of bad luck for Davison in recent weeks.

Last month, she lost her wallet while out for an ice cream at East Beach, forcing her to re-schedule a flight she’d planned to Ottawa for her 94-year-old mother’s birthday.

READ MORE: Woman hoping ‘White Knight’ returns lost wallet

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Eleven-month-old Brian licks his lips after a drink from the once-shaded water dish on owner Leslie Davison’s lawn. The sunshade was stolen Monday morning. (Tracy Holmes photo)
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Leslie Davison watches as 11-month-old Brian slurps from the once-shaded water dish on her lawn. (Tracy Holmes photo)
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Leslie Davison and 11-month-old English staffordshire Brian great a neighbour and his dog near the water dish Davison leaves out for Brian’s four-legged friends. (Tracy Holmes photo)


Tracy Holmes

About the Author: Tracy Holmes

Tracy Holmes has been a reporter with Peace Arch News since 1997.
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