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DEL.ICIO.USLost and injured, Oreo the dog found a friend
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Callachan spotted the pooch on Dickens Road. He apparently had been hit by a car, and was trying to pull himself to the edge of the road with his front paws.
Callachan stopped.
Neighbors peered from their windows. Callachan asked a man if the male Shih Tzu Maltese was his. No, he said. So Callachan asked for a blanket. He wrapped the dog up, put him in his truck, and continued to work. He’s a kindergarten teacher at Hopkins Elementary in Lilburn.
At school, Callachan photographed the dog and attached it to a campus e-mail. He hoped someone would claim the pet, or possibly know its owner. He didn’t want to contact animal control. If no one claimed the canine at the shelter, it would eventually be put to sleep.
“I didn’t want that to happen,” said Callachan of Atlanta.
When the e-mailed proved fruitless, Lee Mynett, another teacher, stepped in. She offered to take the dog to a vet at Animal Care Hospital in Lilburn. The dog, in shock, with lacerations and a broken left hip, spent the night there Tuesday. (SEE PHOTO OF OREO BELOW.)
Days earlier, Chris Denslow, a math specialist at Hopkins, had seen a “Lost Dog” poster along Ponds Road. It had a phone number, photo of the animal, and listed a $200 reward for his recovery.
On Tuesday, the day Callachan picked up the dog, Denslow noticed the flier again. Maybe the rescued dog was the toy dog in the flier that went missing Jan. 15. It was a long shot, though. The location of the poster and the spot where Callachan found the dog aren’t that close. But Denslow thought it was worth a try. On Wednesday, she brought the poster to school.
On Jan. 15, thieves broke into Ken Mauragas’ home, ransacked it, and stole two plasma TVs and money. But out of all the things that turned up missing, “Oreo,” his dog, mattered the most. He surmised that the sick thieves had snatched the pooch as well as the loot.
“That’s my feeling,” said Mauragas, 57, a service manager at Norman’s Electronics in Chamblee. “He’s a very happy dog. He licks you to death.”
Initially, Mauragas posted xeroxed “Lost Dog” fliers. But the wintry, rainy weather that swept through Gwinnett two weeks ago made hay of them. So he put out some laminated signs. He checked area animal shelters and clinics, too.
On Wednesday, Mauragas’ phone rang. It was Mynett, the Hopkins’ teacher. She described the rescued animal. Mauragas didn’t think it was his Oreo, but he drove to the Animal Care Hospital to take a look. Just in case.
“I went right to my knees,” he told me. “I lost it. I was just crying.”
On Thursday, Oreo had surgery at the Georgia Veterinary Specialists in Roswell to insert pins in his lower torso. His is a long road to recovery.
And Mauragas and Oreo have the good folks at Hopkins to thank. You know what they say, though: What goes around comes around. Which brings me to that $200 reward.
Hopkins Elementary students and faculty have been raising money to install a playground at the school.
Now, thanks to Callachan, Denslow and Mynett, they have some money to add to the project.
Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: You don’t have to take a poll to find out what’s on people’s minds. Just drop by a barbershop. Rick Badie, your AJC Gwinnett News columnist, will get trimmed and educated Wednesday when he visits Uncle Doug’s Fresh Cuts, 6200 Buford Highway, in Norcross. He’ll be there from noon to 2 p.m. Read all about it online and in print in Thursday’s AJC.
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Comments
By itsme
January 28, 2007 09:05 AM | Link to this
I really enjoy this column. Good job!
By Bruce Wilcox
January 28, 2007 09:19 AM | Link to this
I know that feeling that Mauragas had, my lab was returned the same night she had gotten lose because her tags had all her information. But just a few hours of searching for a jet black lab at night you realize it is kind of hopeless.
We just got a new about a year old pup, come to find out a fence jumper, so we raised the fence. Now we find out out she is not only a fence jumper, but a climber, as much as I hated too we installed an electric underground fence.
And just in case, besides her collar tags, we had a microchip implanted with all her information. Petco has a clinic every weekend where a vet inserts it at a reasonable price, a lot cheaper than your regular vet.
If all of this fails Sammi will be wearing ankle weights!
By Bruce Wilcox
January 28, 2007 09:27 AM | Link to this
I wanted add three great quotes that explains why so many wonderful people will go out of their way to help mans best friend.
“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” - Josh Billings
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.” - Will Rogers
“We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It’s the best deal man has ever made” - M. Facklam
By a reader
January 28, 2007 12:59 PM | Link to this
Great article. Just before Christmas, I received a call. The young voice on the other end asked if we had a yellow dog. As it turned out, our dog (a 9-1/2 y/o lab, who looks & acts like an overgrown puppy)was out on the prowl. The dog had escaped in the past, but never ventured out of the n’hood. According to my 15 y/o son, “someone” left the gate open.
Luckily, our dog wasn’t hit on the busy road just outside of our subdivision. And, fortunately, this particular mom was out driving on that busy road. Her 10 y/o son spotted a “stray” dog. When the mom saw it, she knew he wasn’t a stray. His fluffy coat suggested that he had recently been bathed, and he had a new bandana around his neck. They pulled off the road and picked him up. They found the dog’s collar and tags, then called. Had he not had the information attached to him, I think this family would have adopted our boy. It was a lesson for us all, and I could not thank them enough.
By Ken Mauragas
January 29, 2007 05:04 PM | Link to this
Many thanks to all the people who helped find Oreo. He means so much to me. Thanks to Susan Smith, Maryanne Raymond who kept hope alive when I thought all was lost. It was easy to fall into pity puddle and be sad alot and let precious time move along. I was told that Oreo was lost and needed my help to find him and he expected that from me. Looking at the problem from that point of view got me off my bottom and planting signs, going from door to door and getting the word out ” Lets find Oreo, I love him!” Again all my thanks to everyone that cares about animals. Ken
By Anonymous
January 30, 2007 08:48 PM | Link to this
Wonderful article. I love a happy ending. How refreshing to see so many caring people pull together to reunite a man and his dog. I’ll pray for his recovery.