Sick teen's dog back home at last: "When Dixie saw Michael, she just flew"

[Human Torch]

Sick teen's dog back home at last
DIXIE'S THEFT BROUGHT OFFERS OF HELP
By Linda Goldston
Mercury News

Dixie, the little black dog that's been missing since July 21 -- the dog Michael Ortiz-Peña needs to try to get well -- is back home. So is Michael. Against all odds, Michael's mother, Gina Peña of San Jose, received a call Sunday morning from a man saying he had the dog. Michael, 16, had to go back into the hospital Saturday, and Peña was with her son when the man called. The pickup finally was arranged Monday morning, and Michael, 16, was discharged from the hospital six hours later. ``When Dixie saw Michael, she just flew and went all crazy on him,'' Peña said Monday night.

Dixie -- her crate and all -- was stolen from the family's home, along with their 50-inch plasma TV and the younger son's video games, when Peña and her husband left to pick Michael up at school. Burglars had used a crowbar to enter through the front door and apparently rounded up Dixie, who was upstairs in her crate, along with the loot they stole. Peña had little hope of getting Dixie back home when she contacted the Mercury News on Aug. 22. Dixie had been missing a month and Michael's stress level was up dramatically. Michael has a chiari malformation and a cyst in his brain with hydrocephalus, which causes him to have severe migraine headaches. Dixie helped him stay calm and quiet.

The man who returned Dixie said he had bought her for $150 in the parking lot of a downtown grocery store. He said the man was walking through the parking lot with Dixie in his arms, asking if anyone wanted to buy her. Then, when a neighbor recognized Dixie, ``he told the man, `I think the dog you bought is the dog they've been looking for,' '' the man told Peña's husband. The man's neighbor had given him a newspaper clipping about Dixie. Even then, the man held onto Dixie for another week. He was able to reach Peña because her cell phone number had been published in the Mercury News.

``He said he wanted what he paid for her,'' Peña said. ``He said he felt really bad for my son. He's like, `I'm so sorry.' ''



Dixie, a 14-pound mixed-breed dog, was stolen from Michael Ortiz-Pena's home on July 21.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15441703.htm

[Pool Hall Ace]

1. It's great that Dixie is back home with her companion.

But I'm not sure I understand that last line. The man wanted the family to pay to get their own dog back?

[philosophie_en_rose]

2. ??? I didn't understand that part either.

What kind of person charges $150 to return a stolen pet?

I'm so happy for the family, though. At least the puppy wasn't sent to a puppy mill.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. I think he wanted to get reimbursed.

Seems fair.

[xchrom]

3. woo-hoo! great news!

:woohoo:

[Wcross]

4. Why would anyone buy a mixed breed dog for 150.00?

Don't get me wrong, I have six mixed breed dogs that I love to death. If someone wanted a mixed breed they could go to the animal shelter and get one for 80 dollars around my area.
Criminals suck, its bad enough that you steal stuff from peoples houses, to steal the family dog is low. I hope their Karma catches up with them real soon.

[SOteric]

6. This is my question.

Don't get me wrong, I love dogs too. But it seems a bit stupid to pay $150 bucks for a mixed breed dog, and not even a puppy, - being sold in a parking lot somewhere.

$80 at the local pound, - or free puppies in every major newspaper's classifieds plus the costs of shots and neutering. (There are spay and neuter clinics in our area that will take care of that for very little costs for eligible citizens).