Owner finds dog, gets miracle

Atlanta was abuzz on social media and around town after a beloved dog came up missing Aug. 30 around 2:30 at the rest area south of Atlanta on Hwy 59. The story struck a chord in a number of people in the community who worked hard to help find the missing pup.

Dawn Fusilier recalled that she was about an hour away from the rest area and looked over and noticed TT, her dog, was missing. Normally, TT would be in her bed or huddled next to her other dog Taz. However, this time she was gone.

Fusilier’s mind was already on other things. She had been in contact with her son’s ex-girlfriend who lives in West Palm Beach with her two grandbabies to see if she was going to evacuate for Hurricane Dorian. She was upset because she said she was going to stock up on food stay there and wait out the storm.

“I realized TT wasn’t answering me and so I pulled off to the side of the road and looked to see if maybe she was stuck in a crook somewhere in the truck,” recalled Fusilier, who became hysterical. “I got back in my truck and turned around back to the rest area. I immediately called the Atlanta Police Dept. and spoke to an amazing woman named Lori (dispatcher) who patched me through to the Cass County Sheriff’s Dept. They said that two officers would be on their way back to the station and they would have them stop by. They were not able to due to a fire.”

As time went on Fusilier became more and more worried, “I called her name and even yelled, “treat, treat” to no avail. There was a man washing his older white car and I asked him if he saw a little brown dog. He stated he had and that a man in a small white truck had picked her up and said he was taking her to the vet because he had too many dogs already. I asked him if she was hurt and he stated no.

I told him that I hoped whoever had her was

good to her. I went to a BBQ restaurant towards Atlanta and asked them how many vets were in Atlanta. They said three. They called two of them and I called one.”

Unfortunately, said Fusilier no one had turned her in. I made it to Cass County Vet Hospital and they reiterated that TT was not there. It was the start of the Labor Day weekend. I didn’t have time to make it to any other vet offices, so I headed on to Houston.... bawling and questioning how I could not have known my baby was not in the car. I made it to the family reunion on Saturday, got up earlier on Sunday morning, typed up a flyer and went to Office Depot to print 50 flyers. I bought sheet protectors and tape and headed back to Atlanta.”

Fusilier said that she “posted some flyers in Linden and then at the rest area. The BBQ was closed so I taped one to the light pole. I placed them all over Hwy 59 on light poles at intersections, on Walmart poles; everywhere I thought was a high traffic area where people would see them. I then came back to Little Rock to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I typed up a post on Facebook and begged people to share.”

“On Tuesday morning, while I was at work, I received a call from a man who saw a shared post on FB about TT. He stated he had actually held her on Friday and tried to give her some water, but she was too scared. He said a couple in a small silver sports car had picked her up. They were from Kentucky. I followed up with him on Thursday morning when I was off to see if there was anything else he remembered. By then, all of these people on FB were sharing; I bought ink for my printer and printed like 250 more flyers. A woman named Kat had called and asked me to make a video of the park and narrate how everything happened and she was going to make a longer video for social media and a 30-second video to play on Animal Planet. Friday, September 6th, two of my boys and one of their friends met me in Atlanta to pass out and post more flyers. We posted all but seven and I would post those in Texarkana at the vet offices and shelter,” said Fusilier.

TT, who is a chi-weenie (chihuahua/dachshund mix), 6 1/2 years old, and a reddish-brown color with a thick mane like a lion, appeared lost for good. “She’s not your typical Chihuahua” said Fusilier,” she loves people and is “just a sweet pup.”

Even though things looked bleak, recalled Fusilier, “I started with the 50 flyers, one Facebook post, and then everyone started sharing. My best friend, Patty Dupuis was researching all day with her sister’s help and posting to various pages on FB People were reaching out from the Atlanta area, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida. It was overwhelming. I spent the better part of the weekend responding and posting. I posted to Ellen’s FB page.”

“I posted to the travel nursing site which in 24 hours had 4000+ shares,” continued Fusilier. “We were getting the word out. Yesterday evening, I had cooked and was just finishing up when I got a phone call from Houston. I answered it and it was John Harrison. He stated, ‘I have your dog’. I became hysterical (my norm for the last 10 days) and he said they had stopped at the Atlanta rest stop again to see ‘if anyone was looking for her’.”

“The same caretaker was there and confirmed that I had returned right after they left that Friday and that I had posted flyers. They found one of them and John called me. They said they could meet Saturday and crying hysterically, I told them no, I had to see her today. His wife became emotional. I told them I would pay for them a hotel if they would wait for me to drive from Little Rock to there. He told me that they would go to Texarkana and call me when they got their hotel,” explained Fusilier.

“He called me and asked me to meet them at El Chico. I presume this was phase 1 of my

‘test’ to get her back. Presumably, I passed. I

brought Taz (TT’s brother) and we went to the hotel where we were reunited. She was so happy to see Taz and I and I think I instantly passed phase 2 of the test. I paid for their hotel. Gave them the reward and we headed back to Little Rock. By far, it was the best drive of my life,” Fusilier said exuberantly. We were reunited last night, Sunday, September 8th @ 10:30 p.m.”

Fusilier who is so thankful for getting her dog back had a long list of people to thank, said she wasn’t sure where even to start, although the people who found her were the first on her list, “the Harrison’s who found her and fell in love with her (they had planned to keep her); the APD dispatcher, Lori; the ladies at the BBQ place, the Atlanta vets (Smithers, Dodd, and Kunkle); EVERYONE who shared, prayed, sent me kind and encouraging words; called the vet offices and shelters, researched organizations for lost dogs; reached out, from Texas to Florida to Kentucky; You; Kat Lloyd; too many to remember.”

“I am eternally grateful for everyone’s willingness to make TT their priority even if only for 5 seconds. I try to live a good life and be good to everyone. I try to look out for people, animals, all of God’s creatures. I am a work in progress, but today...I AM GRATEFUL, HUMBLED AND JUST PLAIN HAPPY TO HAVE MY GIRL BACK!!! Thank you!” exclaimed Fusilier.

In a world that seems like there are very few happy endings, it’s always nice to hear of yet another miracle in our “One City Under God”.