Dog News

Despite Sandy’s Devastation, One Family Finds Joy

by Melanie

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10.31.12 Dewey
The Vaillancourt family with Dewey

Sandy made waves and rocked the shores on Monday, leaving death and destruction in her wake.  While sequestered in evacuation shelters or relatives’ homes farther inland, east coast residents worried about what they would come home to:  flooded basements, tree limbs through windows and unrecognizable streets.  But for one family, their minds were occupied with their missing dog, Dewey.

The five-year-old Chinese crested ran away Sunday night as the Vaillancourt family prepared for the hurricane.  They were taking in patio furniture while Dewey and their other Chinese crested, Gracie, were indoors.  The tiny dog barely has body fur and wears a sweater in the cold weather, but it would have been soaked in the torrential downpour.  Dewey had escaped before, and was not wearing the GPS collar he normally dons.  The skittish shelter adoptee slipped by the open gate and vanished.

The family spent two days not knowing where Dewey might have gone, or if he would survive the storm.  They searched the internet, posted an ad on Craigslist and scoured the streets.   A couple miles away, a small dog was spotted in a man named Bob Foss’ yard by his neighbor, Paul Brulé.  The pair tried to lure Dewey to them with cookies, but the shy dog stayed put.  Foss decided to take a peek on Craigslist, where he found an ad for a dog matching Dewey’s description.  Dottie Vaillancourt was contacted, and she immediately came to claim her pup.

“He’s the sweetest little dog, for everything he’s been through,” Vaillancourt said.

While many are mourning what they lost, the Vaillancourts are celebrating what they have found.