La Porte dog found in the Sunshine State three weeks after it went missing
LA PORTE -- Each spring, hundreds, maybe thousands, of Hoosiers flock to the sunny beaches and amusement parks of Florida. This particular spring, one four-legged La Porte resident decided to take a solo vacation to the Sunshine State, leaving his family behind.
On March 30, Jessica Delgado, 23, of La Porte, discovered that her 10-year-old dachshund mix, George, was missing. Through a series of unknown but no doubt unusual circumstances, he was found more than 1,000 miles away in Northport, Fla.
“I was in shock,” Delgado told The La Porte County Herald-Argus this morning, less than 24 hours after George’s return to Indiana. “I mean, how did he end up in Florida? I’ve been crying for three weeks and he’s been on vacation.”
A Northport woman found George on April 19 while she was jogging and alerted local police, who then contacted Delgado and transferred George to the Sun Coast Humane Society in nearby Englewood, Fla.
He was shaken, she said, but otherwise unharmed.
Delgado unfortunately missed the original call, but said an attendant at the humane society put the phone up to George’s ear and allowed Delgado to talk to him.
Through research on the Internet, Delgado contacted Barbara Gravsen, operator of Barb’s Pet Taxi in Sarasota, Fla.
Delgado said she talked with Gravsen, who offered to let George stay in her home until arrangements could be made for his return to Indiana.
Although initially frightened, Gravsen said George adjusted quickly.
“He was a happy camper just to get rescued and be in a home environment,” Gravsen said.
Gravsen kept George overnight until a friend of Delgado’s who was vacationing in Orlando could bring him home.
The first thing George did when he was delivered safely home was run over to his food dish, a daily ritual whenever he enters the house, his relieved owner said.
“He’s such a brat a real mama’s boy,” Delgado said of how pampered George is, making it even more shocking he lasted so long on his own.
Although he returned unscathed, despite being a little thinner, his journey remains a mystery.
Delgado, who lives near the Indiana Toll Road, believes George may have been picked up by someone along the road, but can’t be certain.
“It stinks,” Delgado said. “I have no idea what happened to him, and he can’t talk, so we have no idea what happened to him We’re all confused.”
Because George was wearing dog tags the entire time and no one contacted her for three weeks, Delgado said she expected the worst.
“He’s an older dog, so I thought he may have wandered off to die,” she said.
A long-overdue bath and a party with balloons cemented George’s reunion with his family, who is happy to have him home.
“Here’s this little dog traveling for three weeks who is returned to his owners,” Gravsen said. “It’s a great story for pet lovers.”
http://heraldargus.com/archives/ha/d....php?id=376063 Jessica Delgado, of La Porte, receives a kiss from George this morning outside her home. George was missing for three weeks before he turned up in Florida.