CHULA VISTA
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Cindy Wilson never gave up on Henry, the family's treasured 8-year-old Shih Tzu, who is back at his Coronado home more than a month after getting out of his yard.
Wilson pulled out all the stops in her search for Henry, visiting veterinary hospitals and shelters daily and spending $4,500 on pet detectives, online and newspaper ads, and printed banners and fliers.
Turns out, Marvin Ivy of Chula Vista found Henry four days after he went missing April 7. Ivy started calling the dog Freeway after finding him in bad shape near the Ocean View Boulevard exit off Interstate 15.
“I saw the dog on my way home from work,” Ivy said. “The light was green but I just stopped. He looked exhausted. He didn't have a collar on.”
Ivy said he called a friend, who suggested turning Henry over to the San Diego Humane Society, but Ivy said no. Because Henry “looked sickly from being out all that time, I thought they were going to put him down.”
Wilson said Henry, who requires daily medicine to treat a chronic illness, lost about 15 percent of his weight and is being treated for a bladder infection. She said he is undergoing tests related to his illness to make sure he will recover from a month without treatment. Otherwise, he seems OK.
Wilson and Henry were reunited Sunday after Ivy saw a photo of Henry on a flier in a book of missing dogs. Ivy was with a friend visiting San Diego County's Central Shelter on Gaines Street, when Ivy flipped through a few binders of missing dogs and saw Henry's picture.
“I was telling the receptionist about the dog, and she said 'Oh my God, we've been looking for this dog,' ” Ivy said. “So we called (Wilson) and she came over. I'm so glad that he's home. I was really getting attached to him.”
Ivy, who works at a Residence Inn by Marriott, said he took the black and white dog home April 11, fed him and gave him water. He said because Henry wouldn't eat regular dog food, he chopped up chicken breasts for him to eat.
Henry went missing within 15 minutes of being let outside April 7 after the family was awakened about 1 a.m. by a faulty fire alarm. Henry got out through a break in a fence, which has since been mended. Wilson and her husband, Bill, immediately searched for Henry for hours but could not find him. The next day, the family offered a $1,000 reward, which Ivy received this week.
Wilson is now turning her attention to clearing up misinformation people may have about shelters.
“People think the shelters just kill dogs, but they do not,” Wilson said. “I think people just need to understand the way things work.”
Janine Zuniga: (619) 498-6636; janine.zuniga@uniontrib.com
