By Frank Mustac / Independent Press
January 03, 2012 at 11:50 AM
READINGTON TWP. — Happy is the owner who finds a lost pet, and such was the case of Darryn Urszulak and her little dog Nigel.
A small pug-mix dog named Nigel was reunited recently with its owner Darryn Urszulak of Bridgewater (holding dog) after Readington Township building and grounds employees (from left) Tony Madeano, Ben Przewozny and Eric Santo found the lost animal at the Eversole-Hall House museum near the Municipal Building. Nigel had been missing for 18 days, having trekked more that 10 miles from Bridgewater to Readington via Bedminster.
Urszulak had rescued the brown pug mix from being euthanized at an animal shelter in Connecticut and only had the dog for one day before Nigel slipped out of a harness during a walk near Urszulak’s Bridgewater home on Dec. 3 and ran away. After posting fliers in the neighborhood and information online about her missing dog, which she described as “shy and scared of people,” Urszulak received several calls that Nigel was seen in nearby Bedminster, then in Readington.
On Dec. 21, a full 18 days after going missing, three Readington Township building and grounds employees found Nigel hiding in a flowerbed at the Eversole-Hall House museum. The museum, which is about 10 miles from where Urszulak lives on Red Lion Way in Bridgewater, is small blue building on Route 523 near the Readington Municipal Building.
The employees, Eric Santo, Tony Madeano and Ben Przewozny, recognized the dog from the photo on a flier posted around the township. When they found him, Nigel was shaking and his right front paw was badly hurt.
“It’s funny, we had just been talking about the dog,” said Madeano, recounting a conversation he had with his co-workers about 20 minutes before the find.
The three men walked carefully toward the animal, then one of them gently picked him up and took the dog to the nearby Municipal Building.
“You could tell he was scared,” Madeano said. “But he didn’t resist at all.”
Finding the dog “was being at the right place at the right time and being lucky,” Santo said.
The trio brought Nigel to Lorraine Petzinger, the township’s Board of Health secretary who handles dog licensing for the municipality. Petzinger got veterinary care for Nigel by contacting animal control, which transported the dog to nearby Hunterdon Hills Animal Hospital. She also got in touch with Urszulak, who had offered a $1,000 reward.
“We didn’t want to take the reward,” said Santo.
Payment enough, he said, is just knowing the dog was returned to its rightful owner. “It made our day,” Santo said.
Meando said he and his co-workers turned down the money because “all of us are dog owners. My dog that I have now is a rescue also. And it’s Christmas. We all wanted to do the right thing.’
Urszulak said that Nigel is now home in Bridgewater “doing great” and enjoying snuggling on the bed and getting his ears scratched. “He’s my Christmas miracle,” she said.
During her search for her missing dog, Urszulak said she initially received phone calls from people who saw Nigel at a farm in Bedminster along Burnt Mills Road. When she went to the area, she saw Nigel, but was unable to catch him.
Several days later, she received a call from a veterinary office in Whitehouse Station. Nigel was seen there along Route 523. Urszulak doubted that her small dog could have traveled all the way to Readington, but she posted more fliers there anyway.
“I started to get phone calls,” she said. “People in Readington and Bridgewater were fantastic with helping me find him. I really appreciate the amount of time and effort that so many people put in.”
From the information she received, Urszulak was able to determine that Nigel had settled in the area of Mountain Road in Readington. A family that lives on Route 523 there saw Nigel eating cat food in their garage.
“They tried several times to get him, but he’s very shy and skittish of people,” she said. “Then on December 21, I got a call from Lorraine of Readington dog licensing. Lorraine said, ‘We found your dog. We have your dog.’”
“I couldn’t believe it,” said Urszulak, noting, unfortunately, that Nigel had been hit by a car only a day or two before being found and the vet says he may eventually may lose the limb. “I’m doing alternative therapy at the moment,” said Urszulak.
The reward money, she said, is being donated to Starfish, a community-based volunteer organization that helps local families in need, and to the Friends of the Dog Park in Readington, which maintains the dog park in the township.
“The checks will be going out to those two charities in honor of the three men who helped save Nigel,” said Urszulak, who also expressed thanks for all the support she received in her search for her lost dog. “I needed it and Nigel needed it.”
Source: http://www.nj.com/messenger-gazette/index.ssf/2012/01/bridgewater_pet_owner_reunited_with_lost_dog_found_in_readington.html
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