Dog News

Missing Dog Meant for PTSD Veteran is Found!

by Amy Drew

Life With Dogs is reader-supported. We may earn a small commission through products purchased using links on this page.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

He’s not quite ready for active duty just yet, but the members of the Rutgers University Companion Animal Club are breathing a sigh of relief today as Moe, the one-year-old Rhodesian ridgeback they’ve been training as a service animal, is back home and safe and getting lots of kisses.

Moe went missing very early on New Year’s Day, bolting from the home as fireworks celebrations shook the neighborhood well into the wee hours.

Moe, who is in training to be placed with a veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder, was missed, loved and very, very worried about. CBS2‘s Tracee Carrasco took the story to the people, though, and before long, a community was out looking.

“There were fireworks going off, so he was very spooked; super nervous, and he bolted out of the front door,” Moe’s trainer, Nicole Sadori, said. “He’s not known to do that.”

Since early Sunday, Sadori, members of the club, and its program director, Janice Wolfe, had been putting up flyers searching for Moe. After the CBS2 story aired on Monday evening, Moe was spotted in Edison, NJ, miles away from home.

“A young couple saw him through a fence on the railroad tracks and they were nice enough to try and get onto the railroad tracks, onto the railroad bed and then after they found him,” Wolfe said. “They had seen the piece, so they called up, called Nicole, and said, ‘I think we found your dog.”

Moe had to be rescued by the Edison Fire Department, who cut a hole in a fence to get him out. His paws are cut up, and he was shaken, but Wolfe said she’ll be forever grateful.

“I completely 100 percent credit CBS with this dog coming back,” Wolfe said. “He was in a bad spot. It’s raining, it’s horrible out, and he would have been dead.”

Moe will be kept at Garden State Veterinary Services for observation, and hopefully once he heals, he will go back to his training as a service dog.