Lucy is lost. And a community wants to find her.
“This is a rare positive story about a pit bull,” says Finneus Egan, who, with his girlfriend Antje Hinz, owns the rescue dog. What is positive is the community effort underway to find resolution to what is otherwise a heartbreaking story.
Egan and Hinz set off for a vacation in Europe earlier this month and, for the first time, left the small pit bull they had named Lucy with a pet sitter in Venice. To Egan and Hinz, Lucy was more than your average pet.
“Lucy was an abused rescue pit bull that had lost all hope, shook in the corner if you tried to pet her and didn’t even wag her tail in happiness once for the first six months we had her,” Egan said. “Yet, she has slowly turned into a normal loving dog through love.”
Lucy shared that love at West Hollywood Animal Hospital, where Hinz used to be a veterinarian. “Often dogs are very nervous about being at the vet, and Lucy’s positivity calms them down,” Egan said. He said Lucy also worked with Hinz at some of the rescue foundations where she volunteers her time and at the Westside Pet Clinic in Santa Monica, where Hinz is medical director. There she is known as the “Pit Bull Ambassador.” “She actually shows potential adopters how loving pit bulls can be if treated correctly, which often leads to more pit bulls being adopted,” Egan said.
Lucy also provides solice to Hinz, a breast cancer survivor. Like Lucy, Hinz had almost given up all hope and now is living a normal, loving life, Egan said. ” Some of her emotional survival is due to the love given and received from Lucy.
So Egan and Hinz were stunned when, on Sept. 8, while they were in Germany and planning to head to Spain, they got a call from the dog sitter saying Lucy was missing.
Ten days into their 20-day vacation, Egan and Hinz immediately ended it and returned home to West Hollywood to begin their search for Lucy.
No writer can tell the story better than Egan himself: “This story is also about humanity and a community of empathetic volunteers who have worked tirelessly to help find her,” he said in an email to WEHOville. “Without these people, mostly strangers we have never met, Antje and I would have fallen apart and slipped into despair by now. They renew us everyday and remind us to stay positive and help us to believe we will find our sweet little girl. The overwhelming positive display of humanity that I have witnessed is truly amazing!
“We keep saying: ‘If the context of this situation wasn’t so terrible this experience would be beautiful.’ Being in it right now it is hard to see, but this is one of the most wonderful positive experiences I have ever had in terms of my belief in the goodness of people in the world. I’m praying for a happy ending, but the journey to find Lucy thus far is a lesson in unadulterated giving from friends and strangers that I will never forget. I truly thank each person who has helped, prayed, or donated from the bottom of my heart. ”
The last known sighting of Lucy was at Pen Mar golf course in Venice. Lucy, when cornered there, slipped out from under a fence. The Westside Pet Clinic in Santa Monica, where Hinz is medical director and Lucy has been the “door greeter,” is offering a $1,000 reward for Lucy’s safe return. Anyone with information about Lucy’s whereabouts can contact Egan at (310) 266-4650.
The birthday that Egan and Hinz chose for Lucy, whose actual birth date is uncertain, is Sept. 29. Egan and Hinz are hoping that Lucy will be back home by then to celebrate turning four years old.
I sincerely hope you find Lucy. A pet is more than a pet..she is part of the family. Sending positive thoughts to you.
Wish you great luck finding Lucy.. keep up the hope.. my dog peanut got out of my yard 3x while I was at work and had to put signs all over the neighborhood.. each time a good samaritan stepped forward.