Family reunited with stolen dog at ACC adoption event in NYC after 5 months

Thursday, June 8, 2023

Family reunited with stolen dog at ACC adoption event

A family looking to take in a new pet was pleasantly surprised to find their missing dog at an adoption event. Crystal Cranmore has the story.

BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) -- A family looking to take in a new pet was pleasantly surprised to find their missing dog at an adoption event.

Jenny and her family were devastated when 3-year-old Mocha was stolen back in January.

They said their beloved pet was stolen after they left her with a dog sitter they found through a friend when they were on vacation. When the family got back home, they didn't hear from the sitter.

After searching for months the family was ready to adopt a new pet to fill the hole Mocha's disappearance left in their life.

They visited an adoption event set up by Animal Care Center earlier this month and realized Mocha was there.

"I turned around and was like oh that looks like Mocha," Jenny said. "And when he turned around, that is Mocha!"

Back in May, the Animal Care Control team found a chocolate-colored pit bull mix tied up on New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn.

The rescue team named her Sandy and she quickly became a staff and volunteer favorite.

ACC Volunteer Jay Damashek said when the family saw Mocha it was the most exciting moment to happen in his over 10 years of volunteer services.

Katy Hansen is the Director of Communications at ACC and said the organization was happy to reunite the family with their lost pet.

"Many people don't realize that your local shelter is the first place you should look when your pet goes missing," Hansen said. "Since we are the only rescue organization mandated to take in all stray animals, if your pet goes missing in NYC, they have probably been brought into us. In 2022 ACC reunited 622 dogs with their families."

Hansen said there's also groups who are looking to help pet owners when their animals go missing like, Petco's Love Lost program. The program will takes photos of lost and found pets and adds them to their database which helps owners find their animals using facial recognition technology.

"Aside from going to your local shelter pet owners should register their pet online at Love Lost because their database is also tied into shelters across the nation."

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