For 80-year-old, Pennsylvania resident, Donal Kitchen, Sept. 20, 2013, is a day he will never forget. On that day he lost his beloved pet Brandy, but fortunately the two were reunited a month later.
On that September day, Kitchen was running errands in White Oak, Pa. He was driving with a low gas tank and decided to conserve gas by turning off the AC and rolling down the windows. Kitchen made a quick stop at his doctor’s office and left 12-year-old, Lab-Chow mix, Brandy in the car. When he returned, it appeared Brandy had jumped out of the car. She was no longer inside.
“That’s the first time he ever rolled the windows down,” Marlene Frye of Manor, Kitchen’s daughter, told the Tribune.
Kitchen called police and Frye started doing her own search. For weeks Frye handed out posters and sat waiting for Brandy in places where locals had called reporting sightings.
“I put up 600 posters and other people put up posters to try to find her,” said Frye.
On October 22, the search for Brandy came to an end when two local motorists and an area resident stopped traffic to rescue the dog.
Damian Marchitello of Trafford saw Brandy running along Lincoln Way, and as a dog owner himself, he did not want anything to happen to the scared and lonely dog.
“I didn’t want her to get hurt so I stopped and tried to help her,” said Marchitello.
A passerby saw Marchitello struggling to capture the pet so he too stopped to help. The Good Samaritans stopped traffic until Brandy was safely in Marchitello’s arms.
Susan Mottu of Penn Hills works across the street where the rescue happened. She also owns dogs and transports them in her car. She offered to take Brandy to White Oak Animal Safe Haven.
When Mottu arrived at the shelter with Brandy it was clear workers knew exactly who this dog was. All this time, Shelter founder Ina Jean Marton kept hoping Brandy would be found safe and sound.
“When she came through this door, everyone knew it was Brandy and it was confirmed when we scanned the microchip,” said Marton. “This was a very happy day.”
Soon after, Kitchen and Brandy were reunited.
This rescue was possible because of good-hearted people who were willing to stop in the middle of their busy day to help animals in need. They not only helped a lost pet, they also brought a smile back to the pet owner who had been missing and longing for his beloved pet.
Welcome home Brandy!
