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Florencia “Irma” Asto of Fairview thought she might have found her daughter’s pooch at the Garden State Animal Hospital in nearby North Bergen. She even swore she heard him barking in a private area in back. But no Lucky.
“I wanted to go inside where the animals are to see if my dog was there, but they didn’t want to let me in,” Asto said.
Asto was accompanied by Maureen Ryan, who spotted Lucky the day he went missing and chased him for nearly two hours before he gave her the slip.
After Asto was denied access, Ryan called North Bergen police. They were denied access, as well. Instead, they produced a report they said would be ready on Monday and suggested the Asto family contact local humane societies.
Dr. Kimberlee Young, who runs the hospital, was away this week on an emergency and said her employees acted correctly in denying access to a private area where some animal are quarantined.
She assured CLIFFVIEW PILOT this morning that the missing pooch isn’t in her hospital.
“My employees wouldn’t take in other people’s dogs. We’re not a shelter,” Young said. “The only dogs we have there are actually my own, and sick animals and boarding animals.”
If you see Lucky, contact: CLIFFVIEW PILOT Publisher and Editor GerardJDeMarco@gmail.com
She noted that her staff has posted fliers of the missing dog in the hospital waiting room.
“We certainly wouldn’t post fliers for dogs that we have there,” Young said. “We’re trying to find Lucky, as well.”
Unfortunately, Lucky is neither tagged nor micro-chipped. Finding the little guy hasn’t been easy.
“The kids wanted to go pumpkin picking last Sunday,” Asto said. “It was my day off, but it was a nice day outside and the kids really wanted to go.”
Before they left, she said, she fed Lucky, leaving him with her husband. But he assumed the dog was with them.
When the kids returned with their mom several hours later, Lucky was gone.
From 7 p.m. till midnight, Asto family members walked the streets of Fairview. They even drove around in Irma’s car, which has a noisy muffler that Lucky would recognize.
Police from Fairview and Cliffside Park distributed fliers made by the family to patrol officers, in the hopes one of them would spot him.
Lucky joined the family at three months old last year as a gift to Irma’s 16-year-old daughter for making the honor role at school. The other children are 18, 14 and 12.
“I tell people I have five kids, including Lucky,” the mother said. “He never went outside before without us. I wish I knew where he is.”
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