{"id":12919,"date":"2022-10-12T16:01:30","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T20:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?post_type=wfsu-news&p=12919"},"modified":"2022-10-12T17:09:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T21:09:44","slug":"a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help","status":"publish","type":"wfsu-news","link":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/","title":{"rendered":"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While many parts of Ft. Myers and Naples were heavily hit by Hurricane Ian, one suburban neighborhood in south Naples was barely scathed. Here, the winding streets and pristine houses still have small piles of downed limbs stacked neatly in front of them, but people are also out playing golf on a bright, mild Fall Day. It’s been a week since the hurricane passed through.<\/p>\n

The search is on<\/h2>\n

Sue law and her Kia Soul sit in a driveway in front of a stately one-story stucco home. Law just finished setting up a cage-trap on the bright green lawn. Inside the trap is a blanket. It\u2019s open and waiting. Law has come prepared with lures of Vienna sausages, rotisserie chicken, a BBQ sauce concoction, and a snappy snare\u2014a long pole with a retractable loop on the end.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIf they were running by, I\u2019d be able to go *snap*\u201d she says with a flick of her wrist, demonstrating how the snare works. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t hurt, just shocks them right away and you have time to get a leash on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Law is with Lost Pets of Collier County. She\u2019s helping the Mas family track down their lost dog, an English Sheepdog mix named Baby. The family is from Port Charlotte, and they evacuated to this area to avoid Hurricane Ian\u2019s wrath. The trap at this home is laid where Baby was last spotted. Several neighbors, like Sue Weatherford, the home owner, spotted the dog on their home security cameras and reached out to Law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was on my camera and [the neighbor] down the way, [so] we\u2019ve been out searching,\u201d said Weatherford, gesturing to houses down the street. “She\u2019s in a big community around the way,\u201d and she\u2019s running scared, said Weatherford.<\/p>\n

She doesn\u2019t know the Mas family but saw a post about a lost dog in a social media forum and reached out to help the family. In fact, lots of people \u2013 people that don\u2019t know each other, or Baby– have been searching for the dog, posting photos and pointing out sightings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking my dog and my dog started growling and I was like \u2018what are you growling at? There\u2019s no workers here,\u201d said Ashleigh Maggiore, who also spotted Baby in her residential neighborhood, which is about a mile in the opposite direction of Weatherford\u2019s home.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\n We kept thinking, \u2018dear God, let her come home, safe’\n <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n Rebecca Booth\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSo, I posted on the Naples mom\u2019s page and Lost [Pets of] Collier. Then Anthony [Mas] came, and we saw her [Baby] a few times here, but she would just keep running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baby gets lost in Hurricane Ian’s aftermath<\/h2>\n

The Mas family eventually had to leave their evacuation rental when time was up. They tried to book another, but the owner raised the rate at the last minute to a price the family, with their nine adults and eight dogs, couldn\u2019t afford. They had to give up their search for Baby and eventually found shelter in Orlando, unsure of the fate of their Port Charlotte home, and their lost dog.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Baby\u2019s been alone in the world.<\/p>\n

Mas found the dog ten years ago when he was working with a bank on foreclosures in Miami. He used to do work for banks on foreclosures and it was in the backyard of a foreclosed home that he found a dog that was tied up, her fur matted. She had just had a litter of puppies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd she was really emaciated,\u201d said Rebecca Booth, Mas\u2019 aunt. \u201cFour [of the puppies] were dead on her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mas tried to save another puppy, but it too later died. He was able to save the mother dog\u2014which he renamed Baby, and her last two living puppies. The puppies found good homes, and Baby became a member of the Mas family.<\/p>\n

Booth lives in the Ft. Myers area and took up the search for Baby after Mas and his family were forced out of their emergency rental. \u201cWhen he heard she was crying, he was like \u2018she thinks she\u2019s been abandoned again, I can\u2019t stand it,\u201d said Law, standing next to Booth. The two were a mile away from where Law laid the cage trap for Baby.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s getting later in the evening now, and there\u2019s a new threat. Bobcats and bears have been spotted nearby. And Booth knows a small dog like Baby could be a tempting treat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe kept thinking, \u2018dear God, let her come home, safe,\u2019\u201d she said through tears.<\/p>\n

By now, Baby\u2019s been missing for eight days. She escaped just as Hurricane Ian was winding down. Anthony\u2019s 23-year-old son Adrian has Autism. He took Baby outside for a bathroom break, as he usually does. But the problem is that Baby was an evacuee in an unfamiliar place. The family\u2019s solar-powered rental was the only house on the street still lit and Baby was doing her business by the car. When Adrian went to check on her, she was gone. Law says he blames himself for losing the dog, who was like a service dog to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe says he’s just written with guilt, because he thinks it’s his fault that she got away from him. But it can happen to anybody,\u201d said Law.<\/p>\n

Lost…and Found<\/h2>\n

The family\u2019s anxiety and worry have been mounting for days. But Sue Law, of Lost Pets of Collier County, is an expert pet finder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s a dog that I trapped that had been missing for 14 months. And I found him. It took me six weeks,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Law has been in constant contact with the Mas family every step of the journey. And just hours after she set a trap, she makes a phone call.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found baby!!! Whooo!!!!\u201d Anthony Mas and his big family cheer loudly on the other end of the line. He\u2019s talking fast, his voice shaking as he thanks Sue and Sue, Ashleigh, and the host of people who spotted the dog and posted about her on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re strangers,\u201d said Mas, \u201cbut I don\u2019t know how to thank everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, it wasn\u2019t the chicken that drew Baby in; a couple of teenagers that had heard about her, found her near Ashleigh Maggiore\u2019s house. And Mas\u2019 son Adrian is relieved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very, very happy. I\u2019m just glad we have our baby back. We\u2019ve been missing her for so long,\u201d he says, his quiet voice holding a quiver, too. Adrian can\u2019t stop apologizing for the situation, but his dad Anthony reassures him it wasn\u2019t his fault.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to lose her, it was an accident,\u201d said Adrian.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not your fault,\u201d Anthony reassured him.<\/p>\n

Once found, Law delivered Baby to Rebecca. She wrapped the dog in a blanket and helped her into the backseat of a black SUV and into Rebecca\u2019s lap. The dog had sandspurs on her paws and around her mouth. Her once well-groomed charcoal gray and white coat was matted and muddy. And she sat, quietly panting. She looked exhausted. Too tired to put up so much as a bark. But her tail is still wagged under the loving hands of Rebecca, seemingly knowing she was safe, and that that rest of her family are on the way.<\/p>\n

This story was co-reported by WGCU’s Eileen Kelley. A version of this story appeared on NPR<\/a> on October 8, 2022.<\/i> <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":12920,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","wds_primary_category":0},"categories":[],"tags":[1136,1135],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently Hurricane Ian tore through Southwest Florida, flooding homes, upending lives and destroying much of what people hold dear. A family in Port Charlotte evacuated south to escape the storm; but another disaster was waiting for them. Their beloved dog, confused by the storm\u2019s chaos, ran off when its owner took it outside for a bathroom break as the storm was dying down. And soon, the family would rely on the kindness of strangers to help a poor dog find her way home.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WFSU Local Routes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-12T21:09:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mas-family-1-edit.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"906\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/\",\"name\":\"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-10-12T20:01:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-12T21:09:44+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/\",\"name\":\"WFSU Local Routes\",\"description\":\"Local stories from northern Florida and southern Georgia.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes","og_description":"Recently Hurricane Ian tore through Southwest Florida, flooding homes, upending lives and destroying much of what people hold dear. A family in Port Charlotte evacuated south to escape the storm; but another disaster was waiting for them. Their beloved dog, confused by the storm\u2019s chaos, ran off when its owner took it outside for a bathroom break as the storm was dying down. And soon, the family would rely on the kindness of strangers to help a poor dog find her way home.","og_url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/","og_site_name":"WFSU Local Routes","article_modified_time":"2022-10-12T21:09:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":906,"url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mas-family-1-edit.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/","url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/","name":"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help - WFSU Local Routes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-10-12T20:01:30+00:00","dateModified":"2022-10-12T21:09:44+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wfsu-news\/a-port-charlotte-family-evacuates-ahead-of-hurricane-ian-and-loses-their-dog-strangers-come-to-help\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Port Charlotte family evacuates ahead of Hurricane Ian and loses their dog. Strangers come to help"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/","name":"WFSU Local Routes","description":"Local stories from northern Florida and southern Georgia.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wfsu-news\/12919"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wfsu-news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wfsu-news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wfsu.org\/local-routes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}