It was a bittersweet reunion Tuesday between Dusk and her family.
The 7-year-old black pup with a white muzzle will be back in the fenced-in yard she fled four days earlier.
But she will be going home with little hope of regaining her ability to see after someone likely beat her in the head so hard her eyes popped out of their sockets.
“We’re happy to have her back,” Marie Waligorski said. “We never expected to get her back this way.”
The reunion took place at the CARES specialty veterinary clinic in Middletown, where Dusk was treated after police found her Friday morning in the parking lot of a business in the 5300 block of Emilie Road -- about 300 feet from her Bristol Township home.
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| Jessica Finnell took in the injured Dusk |
Since Friday evening, Dusk had been living with Jessica Finnell, a Bucks County emergency dispatcher who handled the first 911 call about the dog, whom she called Lady. Finnell suspected the dog was not a stray. She was well-behaved, appeared well fed and was housebroken.
When Finnell returned the dog Tuesday, she said it was clear that they were her family.
“She was excited, tail-wagging. She seems happy that they were there,” Finnell said. “I’m happy for her. I miss her like crazy, but I’m happy she is back in her home and can have some of her normal life back.”
At home, Dusk prefers spending most of her time in the backyard, where she has a dog house, said Waligorski’s son, William Schilling, who adopted Dusk as a puppy when living in Tennessee.
The family’s backyard is fenced-in, between 4 and 6 feet high, he said. When Dusk managed to scale it, they built the fence higher, Schilling said.
What the family didn’t know -- until after they reviewed footage from home surveillance cameras -- is that Dusk recently started jumping over the fence again -- usually about 2 a.m., and returning before 7 a.m., when the family woke up, Schilling said.
When Dusk didn’t come to the door for her food Friday, the family realized something wasn’t right, Schilling said. They looked for her Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the neighborhood, but the trail went cold, Schilling said.
Waligorski said she hasn’t slept since Dusk went missing.
“She is a terribly sweet dog,” her son added.
The family didn’t know that Bristol Township recently added Saturday hours for animal control calls, so they didn’t call until Monday. That same day, Waligorski was online and saw a story about an injured dog found in Bristol Township, near her home.
When Waligorski saw the photo of the dog, she knew immediately it was Dusk, Schilling said.
After meeting with the family, reviewing video and pictures of the dog and checking the county dog license number, township Animal Control Officer Tom Morris confirmed Tuesday that “Lady” is “the same dog.”
That someone could intentionally hurt a 40-pound dog is unimaginable, the family said.
“It’s so crazy to know it was so close to home. It’s something you don’t really imagine happening,” Schilling said. “It’s really hard to take it all in that someone could really do that to a creature that has been nothing but loving.”
The CARES vets put Lady’s eyes back into their sockets, but her left eyelid had to be heavily stitched to keep the eye from falling out again, Finnell said. There is zero chance she’ll regain her sight in that eye, Finnell said she was told.
There is also little chance she will see again out of her right eye, Finnell said, adding that's what she was told by a CARES ophthalmologist who examined Dusk on Tuesday
But the surgeon who also examined the dog on Tuesday said its jaw is lining up and she might not require plates to hold together her fractured skull while it heals.
Finnell said the vet who first examined Dusk on Friday said the animal had multiple skull fractures but no road rash or abrasions that would suggest being hit by a car. Rather, the vet said, it’s more likely someone hit the dog in the head with a baseball bat.
Finnell said she will continue handling the online ChipIn account she opened Sunday to raise money for Dusk’s ongoing medical care. As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly $2,500 had been raised, according to the website.
“I will give them whatever is needed, as it is needed, and if there are funds left in the account after her care I’ll donate to a (similar) cause,” she said.
Meanwhile, Morris is determined to find the person responsible for beating Dusk. He visited nearby businesses to review video surveillance tapes Tuesday.
“When I find the person or persons who did this, I am definitely going to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
A Bucks County SPCA humane officer said the agency is not involved in the case, which is being handled by Bristol Township police.
Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia
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