Wesley, yellow lab

Lost dog returned to owners after 17 months
By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Princeton Packet Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 2, 2014

 WEST WINDSOR — The Cruz family thought it was an April Fool’s joke.

The Hillsborough residents received a phone call that their family’s dog, which was missing for 17 months, had been found on Tuesday.

”We were thinking what a cruel April Fool’s joke but they actually found Wesley and because of his microchip he was returned to us after 17 months,” Miguel Cruz said.Earlier that morning, at 7:20 a.m. on April 1, West Windsor police officer Lee Brodowski was dispatched to attend to a loose dog in the area of Manor Ridge and Stonelea in West Windsor.

”He retrieved a very friendly and very large Labrador,” Lt. Robert Garofalo said. “The dog jumped right into the back of his patrol car and was more than happy to go for a ride.”

The dog, later identified as Wesley, was transported to Weber’s Boarding Training facility where staff could read his microchip.

”Dispatcher (Austin) Fountain utilized this information to obtain his owner information,” Lt. Garofalo said.

“Dispatcher Fountain contacted Myra Cruz and inquired about her lost dog. Mrs. Cruz believed the phone call may have been an April Fool’s prank as her dog had been missing since November 2012. Dispatcher Fountain assured her it was not a prank.”

The entire Cruz family, Myra and Miguel and their 12-year-old son Sebastian, immediately made the approximately 18-mile trek from Hillsborough, where the dog disappeared, to West Windsor police headquarters.

”I’ve never seen a kid throw down his supper as fast as he did,” Mr. Cruz said of how his son reacted to the news. “He was thrilled. He couldn’t believe it. He was jumping up and down.”

The Cruzes met Wesley in the lobby of police headquarters.

”Wesley was clearly happy to be back with his family,” Lt. Garofalo said.

Lt. Garofalo and the family both said the dog appeared to have been cared for as he was overweight and was not showing signs of being outside for a long time.

”Whoever took care of him did a pretty good job,” Mr. Cruz said. “He looks pretty fat. We’ll get him back into shape again.”

Wesley went missing from the yard two days before Hurricane Sandy. Mr. Cruz thought the pooch ran off following the scent of an animal but got very upset when the dog didn’t return home.

”We thought maybe he got run over by a car or a deer killed him in the field,” Mr. Cruz said. “We’re so happy he survived and was picked up and returned to us because of his chip. We were so sad; so distraught for 17 months. We talked about him until the very end and never gave up hope.” When Wesley returned home all of the scents, sights and sounds familiar to him set in and “this morning he was all smiles like he was saying, ‘Hey, I’m back,’” Mr. Cruz said on Wednesday.

Officer Brodowski as well as others in the police department were very happy about this great reunion.



”It is positive stories like this that makes everyone’s day,” Lt. Garofalo said.

Source: http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/2014/04/02/the_princeton_packet/news/doc533c75b088f1c111748382.txt

Video from http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Fnew_jersey&id=9488931