A special thank you for helping to find lost dog on Christmas Eve

Dear editor:

We are writing to you to share an incident that occurred in the village this past Christmas Eve, and how so many people assisted us in finding our dog, an emotional support animal. We don't know their names, they didn't know us, but they helped us and we'd like to thank them.

We recently moved to the Town of Lewiston with our dog named Jack. Jack – aka our baby or sweetheart – likes walks in the neighborhood; or after a short ride in the car, to walk the many Lewiston parks, including Academy Park – his favorite. So, it is no surprise that he knows the village well, as we walk from park to park and, on good days, pick up litter on our way. At the parks, he chases squirrels or hides under a bench or picnic table to watch people, other dogs and passing traffic.

This past Christmas Eve, my wife parked her car at Academy Park, immediately across from Tops supermarket, where she went last-minute shopping for groceries. Jack and I accompanied her on the drive, and then we walked around the park while she shopped. When she finished shopping, my wife drove her car around the park to pick us up across from Hibbard’s at about 10:30 a.m.

As I attempted to get our tethered and harnessed Jack in the car that morning, he scrambled out of his harness and ran across the park. It was immediately clear that he was being mischievous as when he ran away, he turned, smiled at us and wagged his tail. We are both elderly and could not pursue him fast enough before he crossed Center Street in front of heavy traffic, including a patrolling Lewiston Police Department officer. The officer immediately stopped his patrol car, the vehicle traffic, and, recognizing our problem, began pursuit of our dog into the neighborhood on foot. A female police officer joined him as two motorists (a young woman in a white pickup truck, and a young man in a red pickup truck) also joined us in that pursuit.

More about Jack: He is a Catahoula Leopard dog, well trained, colored black, brown with grey markings that, under certain lighting, appears steel blue. Thus, in certain low-light conditions and vegetation, he is often hard to see – and especially at night when it's almost impossible to see him. Very intelligent, he is a hunter/herder dog that, while a bit overweight, is very active, curious, rambunctious, and – as everyone in the chase found – very fast.

He did not want to be tethered; he wanted to explore and run, and repeatedly escaped any effort to be collared. As the pursuit continued, our son and daughter joined us, as did several neighborhood residents, a young mailman and a couple other motorists in their cars.

Time and the chase did not stop. Hours passed, fatigue came upon some of us, and it was getting colder. Evening had arrived, it was dark and impossible to see Jack due to his coloring.

Understandably, some folks had to leave the chase, but we remained grateful for their efforts.

The Sheriff's Department dispatch was notified, and the search continued though, honestly, our hope of finding Jack safe was waning. Taking a break at about 5 p.m., we went home to warm up and have something to eat. We were discouraged, wondering if we would ever find him, and worried that we would experience a Christmas without him.

At about 6 p.m., we resolved to resume the search, when we received a phone call from the Sheriff's Department dispatch, informing us that a dog matching Jack's description was seen near the intersection of Cayuga Street and Portage Road. The dispatcher noted the resident caller would attempt to keep the dog in sight while awaiting our arrival.

We replied we could be at that location within 10 minutes, and we – that is our son from out of town, our daughter, and I – left immediately. We arrived thereafter, but could not locate the resident caller nor our dog.

So, we resumed our search, encountering a couple of the earlier searchers, the male police officer, and a second female officer, as well. As we dispersed, our son opted to return to Academy Park and began his search at Center Street. Other searchers headed toward Artpark, the bowling alley, and the village garage.

Almost another hour into our search, our son happily called notifying us that he'd located Jack. Jack was found wet, muddy, shivering cold, seeking shelter behind a rocking chair on the village Chamber of Commerce porch located in the park opposite Tops. I telephoned the Sheriff's Department to tell the dispatcher the dog had been found and requested the village police be notified.

As we returned to our vehicles with Jack, a couple remaining searchers in the area were informed and thanked for their help.

The purpose of this note is to express our sincere thanks to the many people who helped in our search and to demonstrate how members of the Lewiston community gave of themselves, their time and resources, to ensure that we had a great Christmas with our dog.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

William Collesano