Gabrielle Mayhew, 11, of Russell cuddles her puppy, “Cookie” after she was reunited with her dog which ran away in October and was accidentally dragged behind a pickup truck. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
WESTFIELD – The story about the eight-month-old puppy which got dragged down White Street by a pickup truck had a happy ending in that the dog survived the ordeal but there has been a second happy ending.
The dog was returned to her rightful owner, an 11-year-old Russell girl who was given the puppy as a reward for a year of straight As in school.
The story began at 5:13 p.m. Nov. 30 when a White Street resident called city police to report that a pickup truck had been seen dragging a dog on White Street.
Officer Matthew Schultze responded to the call but did not find the dog or the pickup truck.
Schultze called local animal hospitals and found that at a woman had brought a dog which fit the description of the dog in question and he went to Montgomery Road Animal Hospital to speak with the owner, Kelly Lynch of 1418 Blandford Road, Russell.
Lynch told Schultze that she and her boyfriend, Scott R. Wheatley of 1381 East Mountain Road, had been walking her dog, “Fluffy” when they began to argue.
She said that she ended up at the door of Wheatley’s pickup truck holding the little dog in her arms with the retractable leash handing down and, when Wheatly slammed the door of the truck, the leash was caught, unbeknownst to her.
When Wheatly drove away, Lynch said, the dog was pulled from her arms but she thought Fluffy had jumped down and was running away so she gave chase.
When Wheatly turned on to Meadow Street the dog skidded across the sidewalk and struck Lynch, freeing Fluffy when the leash broke or was dislodged from the truck.
Lynch told Schultze that she had found the dog in October.
When Ken Frazer, the city’s director of animal control operations, reviewed Schultze’s report he realized that Lynch had not reported finding Fluffy.
In a telephone interview, Frazer said that Lynch had not acceded to the recommendation of the animal hospital staff to leave the puppy at the hospital for treatment of the extensive road rash and abrasions she sustained in her ordeal but had taken her home.
Frazer said that he called Lynch and explained to her that Massachusetts law requires anyone who finds dog to notify the animal control officer within 48 hours.
“Cookie”, a nine-month-old puppy who was recently returned to her owner, has a severely abraded nose and numerous other abrasions after she was accidentally dragged behind a pickup truck. (Photo by Carl E. Hartdegen)
He said “I told her she had her choice. She could bring the dog in (to the municipal animal shelter) by 9:30 Saturday or I’d have her arrested.”
Frazer said the Lynch came in to surrender the puppy with several friends who wanted to adopt her but Frazer told them that the dog could not be adopted by anyone for a minimum of ten days.
Frazer said that he examined the puppy and compared his results with reports of lost dogs.
He said he found a distinguishing mark on Fluffy’s belly that matched a dog reported lost by a Russell family in October.
When Frazer notified Ian Forgey and Theacia Mayhew, they claimed their daughter’s dog.
In an interview after the puppy, who was really named “Cookie”, returned home Mayhew said that Cookie had been lost Oct 11 or 12.
She said the puppy “was always in the yard” but one day when the family was outside their rural home on Blandford Road making a lot of noise, Cookie had fled and they assumed that she had gone back to the house.
However, Cookie was not found and the family reported her to be lost.
Forgey said that they had been given the dog as a young puppy by a family friend in late April.
He said that their daughter, Gabrielle Mayhew, 11, had earned straight As in school that year and her new puppy was a reward.
Forgey said that Cookie’s breeder said that she was a schnauzer and miniature poodle cross but said “she looks like a terrier.”
He said that aside from the abrasions “She’s pretty much the same dog” but said “she’s pretty skinny.”
“Regardless of the car dragging, they didn’t take care of her” Forgey said.
Gabrielle just smiled and cuddled her puppy.
