[News] Long-lost Yorkie picked up by trucker returns home from Texas

[Tinkerbelle1]

What can you say about such a beautiful story. The Lopez family are examples of true human caring and kindness. I am so happy for the Charette family and little Tomeka of course. To be back in the heart of her family she must be one happy little one. She is one tough little girl as she obviously was not well cared for but it did not seem to alter her perception of the human race which is a great thing.

It gives me new hope for all the little lost yorkies.


j

[Donna Jean]

Originally Posted by Judy in Waco

Posted Online: July 20, 2007 1:45 p.m.

Long-lost Yorkie picked up by trucker returns home from Texas
Comment on this story

GateHouse News Service

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=347022

Photo: GateHouse News Service
Mary Charette welcomes her Yorkshire terrier Tomeka home after being separated for almost a year.
FALL RIVER, Mass. - A dog lost in Connecticut a year ago is finally home after having been trucked to El Paso, Texas, and sold at a swap meet for $50.

Tomeka came home Tuesday night, a little thin and with knotted, bleached-out fur, but still furiously wagging her tail — a testament to her good-natured demeanor.

“I can’t believe she’s home,” said owner Mary Charette, a day after she picked up the Yorkshire terrier at the cargo section of Logan Airport where the pup arrived via Continental Air. “It’s like a missing piece came home.”

Tomeka was just 6 months old when she went missing at a truck stop in Connecticut last August. Her owners, Mary and Paul Charette, had stopped their RV at a McDonald’s there on the way to Virginia to visit their daughter.

The Charettes believe a trucker picked up the dog after she got out of the RV. Once Paul and Mary discovered Tomeka missing, they searched the area for four hours.

“We were in the woods, everyplace,” Paul said.

Heartbroken, they went to Virginia while another daughter hung fliers in Connecticut and made phone calls. A worker at the McDonald’s told her she remembered seeing a trucker reach down and pick up a dog and put it inside the truck.

“While we were searching, he picked her up,” Mary said. From there, it’s a mystery. “We’ll never know how she spent the whole year.”

On Monday, Mary got a phone call from the Fall River Animal Hospital notifying her that her dog had been found in Texas. Mary had spoken to the hospital just a couple of weeks ago when she called to cancel Tomeka’s annual shots, so was not expecting them to call.

“I was crying,” Mary said. “She was crying. (Paul) was crying.”

Mary was given a phone number and asked to call Jody Lopez, in El Paso. “I called and I said, ‘I hear you have Tomeka.’”

She learned that Lopez’ niece, 10-year-old Michelle Guiloen, was playing outside on Saturday when she found Tomeka in the yard. She picked the dog up and brought her into the house.

Jody and her husband noticed that the dog was wearing a rabies tag from the Fall River Animal Hospital — a much too far away place for a dog to roam on its own. They called the hospital and learned they would have to wait until Monday for the hospital to run a check on the dog.

In the meantime, they removed several ticks from Tomeka. And, the little girl bathed and cared for the dog.

Lopez said that on Sunday a woman came by and saw the dog in the yard and said it belonged to her. Lopez told her the dog was from Massachusetts and she was trying to contact the owner.

The woman, she said, told her she bought the dog for $50 at a swap meet a few months back. Lopez said on Wednesday the woman, who likely lives in one of the trailers she’s seen down the road, has yet to come back and ask about the dog.

“This Yorkie has been neglected,” Lopez said. They suspect the dog was tied up out in the sun and generally uncared for.

When Tomeka’s tags (she also had a microchip implant) proved she was in fact from Fall River, Mary asked her to fly the dog home and she would pay her, whatever its cost.

By Tuesday, Lopez had booked the flight for that day, purchased a carrier and food and had the dog checked by a veterinarian. Lopez sent the dog on her way before she even gave Mary a total of what she’d spent.

Mary said the trip and incidentals cost Lopez $277.76.

“We’re going to give her $1,000,” Mary said. “That woman didn’t have to do what she did.”

Lopez said she wanted to do it for Mary and the dog, having lost a dog herself once.

“I feel good,” she said.

At the airport, Mary opened the carrier and called Tomeka by name. “She started kissing me,” she said. Once home, she immediately jumped onto Paul’s lap. “I wonder what she went through,” Paul said.

Tomeka on Wednesday seemed right at home with the Charette’s and their brood — another Yorkshire terrier, Timon; a Maltese, Titus; a 15-year-old Persian cat, Cyrus; and a 7-week-old domestic kitten, Boots.

That’s not to mention several foster children. (The Charettes, over the years, have adopted 13 children and fostered more than 200).

Tomeka has been brushed and freed of her knots.

“It took three hours,” Mary said.

And, they’re hoping to fatten her up a bit.

“I still don’t believe it,” Mary said.

This is an amazing story, I am so happy it had a happy ending!!!!!! A year of her sweet life you will never know about, however that does not matter, she is home in your loving arms with her large family, where she will get her fair share of love and cuddles, that she probably missed in the year she was gone!

I am so happy to have such a happy ending! Thank you for sharing.

[Donna Jean]

Originally Posted by Judy in Waco

Posted Online: July 20, 2007 1:45 p.m.

Long-lost Yorkie picked up by trucker returns home from Texas
Comment on this story

GateHouse News Service

http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=347022

Photo: GateHouse News Service
Mary Charette welcomes her Yorkshire terrier Tomeka home after being separated for almost a year.
FALL RIVER, Mass. - A dog lost in Connecticut a year ago is finally home after having been trucked to El Paso, Texas, and sold at a swap meet for $50.

Tomeka came home Tuesday night, a little thin and with knotted, bleached-out fur, but still furiously wagging her tail — a testament to her good-natured demeanor.

“I can’t believe she’s home,” said owner Mary Charette, a day after she picked up the Yorkshire terrier at the cargo section of Logan Airport where the pup arrived via Continental Air. “It’s like a missing piece came home.”

Tomeka was just 6 months old when she went missing at a truck stop in Connecticut last August. Her owners, Mary and Paul Charette, had stopped their RV at a McDonald’s there on the way to Virginia to visit their daughter.

The Charettes believe a trucker picked up the dog after she got out of the RV. Once Paul and Mary discovered Tomeka missing, they searched the area for four hours.

“We were in the woods, everyplace,” Paul said.

Heartbroken, they went to Virginia while another daughter hung fliers in Connecticut and made phone calls. A worker at the McDonald’s told her she remembered seeing a trucker reach down and pick up a dog and put it inside the truck.

“While we were searching, he picked her up,” Mary said. From there, it’s a mystery. “We’ll never know how she spent the whole year.”

On Monday, Mary got a phone call from the Fall River Animal Hospital notifying her that her dog had been found in Texas. Mary had spoken to the hospital just a couple of weeks ago when she called to cancel Tomeka’s annual shots, so was not expecting them to call.

“I was crying,” Mary said. “She was crying. (Paul) was crying.”

Mary was given a phone number and asked to call Jody Lopez, in El Paso. “I called and I said, ‘I hear you have Tomeka.’”

She learned that Lopez’ niece, 10-year-old Michelle Guiloen, was playing outside on Saturday when she found Tomeka in the yard. She picked the dog up and brought her into the house.

Jody and her husband noticed that the dog was wearing a rabies tag from the Fall River Animal Hospital — a much too far away place for a dog to roam on its own. They called the hospital and learned they would have to wait until Monday for the hospital to run a check on the dog.

In the meantime, they removed several ticks from Tomeka. And, the little girl bathed and cared for the dog.

Lopez said that on Sunday a woman came by and saw the dog in the yard and said it belonged to her. Lopez told her the dog was from Massachusetts and she was trying to contact the owner.

The woman, she said, told her she bought the dog for $50 at a swap meet a few months back. Lopez said on Wednesday the woman, who likely lives in one of the trailers she’s seen down the road, has yet to come back and ask about the dog.

“This Yorkie has been neglected,” Lopez said. They suspect the dog was tied up out in the sun and generally uncared for.

When Tomeka’s tags (she also had a microchip implant) proved she was in fact from Fall River, Mary asked her to fly the dog home and she would pay her, whatever its cost.

By Tuesday, Lopez had booked the flight for that day, purchased a carrier and food and had the dog checked by a veterinarian. Lopez sent the dog on her way before she even gave Mary a total of what she’d spent.

Mary said the trip and incidentals cost Lopez $277.76.

“We’re going to give her $1,000,” Mary said. “That woman didn’t have to do what she did.”

Lopez said she wanted to do it for Mary and the dog, having lost a dog herself once.

“I feel good,” she said.

At the airport, Mary opened the carrier and called Tomeka by name. “She started kissing me,” she said. Once home, she immediately jumped onto Paul’s lap. “I wonder what she went through,” Paul said.

Tomeka on Wednesday seemed right at home with the Charette’s and their brood — another Yorkshire terrier, Timon; a Maltese, Titus; a 15-year-old Persian cat, Cyrus; and a 7-week-old domestic kitten, Boots.

That’s not to mention several foster children. (The Charettes, over the years, have adopted 13 children and fostered more than 200).

Tomeka has been brushed and freed of her knots.

“It took three hours,” Mary said.

And, they’re hoping to fatten her up a bit.

“I still don’t believe it,” Mary said.

This is an amazing story, I am so happy it had a happy ending!!!!!! A year of her sweet life you will never know about, however that does not matter, she is home in your loving arms with her large family, where she will get her fair share of love and cuddles, that she probably missed in the year she was gone!

I am so happy to have such a happy ending! Thank you for sharing.

[GREENLEESNANA]

WOW what a story..it has brought me to tears...such a happy ending.

[yorkiesmiles]

Wonderful!! Praise God for good hearted people and the endurance of this little dog!

Rejoicing with them, and praying that all those still missing a beloved dog could find their sweet friend

[princessteph]

sad story happy ending ......very happy you got your baby back

[BLowry]

What a great ending to a heartbreaking story!! I only live a little over and hour from Fall River...What an amazing story that is...and THANK GOD! that woman was honest. She could have kept the little girl. What a wonderful thing she did.

[red98vett]

oh wow ! THAT is one amazing story

[RoxyJosMom]

All choked up and all I can say is what a great way to end the day - with a warm, happy feeling to go to sleep on .

[Kelz]

what a great story!!! it brought tears to my eyes!

[Jenn218]

Wonderful.....it gave me warm fuzzies!!!!
I just wish there were more people out there like that!!!

[Yorkiesforever]

That is an amazing story. I am glad it had a happy ending......

[Izzy Princess]

Judy - what a great post - if only she could talk to tell her story...does sound like she had a rough time there for a while but all is good now. Yeah! Happy Ending.

[Yorkiekids]

That's amazing. So glad she's home where she belongs.

[wemple2]

Home again, that's where all yorkies (dogs in general) belong!!!