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

[Judy in Waco]

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

Long-lost Yorkie picked up by trucker returns home from Texas
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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.

[Catrina]

AWWWWWWWWWWWW wow!!!! that is amazing!!! im so happy for her and her family!!!

[s13silviagirl]

That is so awesome! Glad to see something positive posted! I think we all needed to see this!

[JeanieK]

What a wonderful heartwarming story. that stupid trucker could have at least contacted the Animal clinic when he decided that he no longer wanted her.

[Mardelin]

What an amazing story.....just brought tears to my eyes......

[Rae Rae]

OMG I almost started crying!!! That's truly a miracle!

[daisy mae06]

OMG Judy I am in Tears and Chills all over thank you for shareing that great story of HOPE AND LOVE!!!!!! WOW

[nvnvgirl]

Wow....miracles really DO happen! And there really ARE a lot of good people out there

[Gingergirlsmom]

"crying happy tears"

What on earth would have posessed that trucker to pick her up and take her with him???

What a wonderful ending! Gives us hope for the other lost furbabies out there!!

[wemple2]

This story has warmed the cockles of my heart...Sad...yes, but a happy ending. Just shows you, that we can never give up on lost or missing dogs...we must keep up the search!!! Thank heavens for people like the Lopez'.

[wemple2]

This story has warmed the cockles of my heart...Sad...yes, but a happy ending. Just shows you, that we can never give up on lost or missing dogs...we must keep up the search!!! Thank heavens for people like the Lopez'.

[Yorkiedaze]

There are angels in this world and the lady who took her in and contacted the Vets. office is one of them. The poor little doggie will be so happy to be able to live inside a home with her pack. This is wonderful!!

[Judy in Waco]

With so many bad stories lately, I was delighted to find this great one.

From now on, when I post a "happy" story, I will put a happy face icon in front of the word [news]. Maybe that way people can choose to read the happy stories when they want to. At least with the stories I post.

The lady who found him is a true hero in every sense of the word!

[Yorkie3]

What a wonderful heartwarming story.

[SWEETPEA]

awww!!! great news a very happy ending