Please tell us about your Coronado Memory
In April of 2008 a fire alarm awoke our family at 1 a.m. I rose to change the battery and our little dog Henry asked to be let outside. Fifteen minutes later Henry was gone. We soon figured out that Henry had slipped out through a missing picket in our fence. For the next few hours we searched high and low looking for our beloved Shih Tzu. A block from our house my husband Bill spied a white Ford Expedition parked with the driver standing by the passenger door fiddling with something. It seemed odd at the moment but we continued to search. By the time the sun came up we realized our Henry was lost and he was without identification as he slept without his collar. We contacted the Coronado Police and animal shelter and I made up flyers offering a $1000 reward for Henry’s return. You see Henry was sick. He had been diagnosed with Addison’s disease and required a daily medication.
The next weeks we did all we could do to find Henry. We contacted the Coronado shelter and PAWS. We contacted FindToto.com and had calls made to all homes in the area alerting them to our missing dog. We hung large banners around town with Henry’s picture. We even hired a tracker dog that sniffed Henry’s scent to Second and Alameda where it stopped abruptly. Henry had been lifted up by someone or something at that location and we began to fear he had been abducted.
I changed tactics and began to visit vets throughout Coronado and San Diego delivering our flyer and looking for a Shih Tzu brought in with Addison’s disease. I even theorized that the most probable reason for a Ford Expedition to be on the streets at 1 a.m. was they worked on base and I put Henry’s flyer on any white Ford Expedition parked at or near North Island. Two weeks after Henry’s disappearance I received a call from a restricted number asking if I was the owner of the lost Shih Tzu. However the caller hung up when I began to ask probing questions. I refused to let go and hired a private investigator to try to find the mystery caller. I eventually was able to find the caller however just before we were going to pay a visit I received a call from the Central Animal Shelter in San Diego – Henry had been found. Henry had been found by Marvin Ivy who was heading home from his job in Mission Valley. Ivy literally found Henry wandering on the Freeway near Ocean View Boulevard. Ivy already owned a young Pekingese named Phoebe but he brought Henry home and renamed him “Freeway.” Ivy did not take the dog to the animal shelter because he didn’t want to take the chance of having him euthanized because Henry looked sick. On May 10, Ivy went to a shelter on an unrelated matter and saw a flyer with Henry’s mug on it. Finally, after a very long five weeks of searching Henry came home for Mother’s Day. It was a tearful homecoming but after weeks of searching my diligence paid off. Henry was in remarkably good health. He had lost a little weight, had a bladder infection and he no longer appeared to have Addison’s disease. His eyes were still weepy but he was a very happy boy to be back in the Crown City. The support and assistance from the Coronado Police, PAWS and many friends and my willingness to not give up on our little dog make this a very happy Coronado memory! Cindy Wilson