Couple reunited with missing service dog
07:02 AM PST on Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Associated Press
KING 5 News
Gatsby is a certified emotional support animal.
SEATTLE - A couple visiting Seattle over the holidays have been reunited with their missing 4 ˝-pound Yorkshire terrier Gatsby, a certified emotional support animal.
The dog has helped Bruce and Sharon Gallagher from Rifle, Colo., cope with the death of their college-age son, Cheyne, in a traffic accident two years ago. Bruce Gallagher said they'd been distraught since the dog got out of the yard on Christmas Eve while they were visiting another son in north Seattle. While they were at a movie downtown, Gatsby went through a doggy door into the yard—and then apparently slipped out under the fence.
"We're just frantic," he said earlier. "We've just been crying our eyes out."
The dog was found on Christmas Eve by someone who didn't know who the terrier belonged to because his tags were too worn to read. That person saw TV reports about the missing dog and, by Monday night, Gatsby was reunited with the delighted Gallaghers.
They've had the tiny terrier for five years, since he was a puppy. He was very attached to their late son. "We see a lot of Cheyne in Gatsby," Gallagher said.
Their doctor suggested having Gatsby certified as an emotional support animal, so he could accompany the couple wherever they go, like any other service animal.
