Community Corner

Lost Bayport, Sayville "Man's Best Friends" Return Home Safely

Social networking sites plays a role in helping lost pets get back home.

It's a happy weekend for a Bayport and a Sayville family as the families' cherished canines, who went missing end of the week, are now back home and safe.

As Patch reported Thursday, a Bayport Boston Terrier named Ralphy went missing on Jan. 7 and had been last seen in his yard on Fairview Avenue in Bayport. The family circulated flyers and put a note on Patch and Patch did a news alert on the missing pooch.

The next morning the family found Ralphy on their back stoop.

"I am happy to say Ralphy came home yesterday morning!! He smelled like dog shampoo and is good. Shaken up only a little and happy to be home. I do not know who had him. He jumped on the back door as he always does. But I thank you from the bottom of my heart you brought him home to us. Thanks to everyone who helped us find him!! We are once again a complete family," stated Tricia Kearns-Baratta, in a followup note on the Patch story.

On Friday night, Jake, who belongs to Sayville residents Mark Massa and his fiance Kim Worhle, went missing after Jake managed to open a house door to escape into the yard and then did a Houdini and got out of the yard.

The six-year-old GSD/Ridgeback mix, who weighs in about 90 pounds, has some unique skills.

"He can open doors and managed to get out of the house into the yard while we were out, and then he got out of the yard," said Massa, who lives on Lowell Road. The couple feared the dog likely was headed into the nearby 80-acre park area near their home.

Worhle immediately posted a note on her Facebook page with Jake's picture.

Meanwhile a neighbor discovered Jake in the early morning hours of Saturday and took him to a 24-hour vet clinic in Bohemia.
An employee there posted a note on the clinic's Facebook page.

Then another Facebook reader noticed both postings and reached out to Worhle about how a dog had been found and was at the clinic.

"It's just amazing we got him back so fast and so many people were involved and we want to thank everyone," Massa told Patch in a phone interview Saturday. 

The couple headed to the clinic first thing Saturday and brought Jake home.

"I can't believe how fast the news got around to people and how thankful we are to the person who found him, the vet clinic for posting they had him and the person who connected it all." said Massa.


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