For five long months, Lauren Piccolo wasn’t sure if she’d ever see her pup again. Burt went missing last August in the Morningside Heights neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Piccolo turned to social media to help find her beloved baby whippet. Even with little success, she didn’t give up hope that someone would spot the dog and return him home safely.
She knew it would be difficult for a stranger to catch the pup since whippets are notoriously fast runners, and Burt is a shy pup.
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She kept posting pictures of the adorable pup to make sure that his face was fresh in everyone’s mind.
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Even as it moved from summer to winter, Piccolo never gave up.
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Burt didn’t even get to spend his first birthday with his mom.
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Almost a month ago, Fire Lt. Dave Kelly noticed a dog wandering near FDNY’s Bureau of Training Grounds. Located on Randall’s Island, Burt had gotten himself to the other side of the East River, traveling three miles from where he originally went missing.
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Kelly had been feeding the dog from a distance for a while, since the pup was too scared to let him close enough to take him in. On Monday, with the blizzard looming, he decided that it was time to set a trap.
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By Tuesday morning the pup was in safe hands. It was only then that Kelly turned to social media to find any info or posts about the dog.
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He found the Bring Burt Home Facebook page and immediately contacted a very relieved Piccolo. While Kelly was still hesitant that he’d found the dog’s true owner…
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(via BuzzFeed)
It’s a good thing that Piccolo kept an optimistic outlook during those five long months! What a happy ending to a very nerve-racking story. Burt, I hope you learned your lesson after rummaging through garbage cans and sleeping in the cold to never run away again!
