New Year's day on the trail of a lost dog

We went for a walk this afternoon around the neighbourhood. I wanted to look at the accordion in the window of Jimmi's music store, so we walked north and west from our house. Something very bad must have happened in front of a grocery store a block east of the music store. There was blood all over, and dog tracks in almost every direction. A fellow arrived while we were there...it turned out he was the son of the owner of the dog. The owner was away and this guy came to feed the dog, but it was gone. Mrs. Anchovy and I tracked the dog all over the neighbourhood. It looked like he had been up and down most of the streets in the area. The dog must have been bleeding badly from one paw. At times the tracks looked very fresh. It could be the animal found a place to hide in a back yard. We just don't know. There were tracks all over, but no sign of the dog. I hope the dog has the strength and the sense to return home. I hope he's OK.