Strangers’ kindness aids in dog’s return
Published: March 16, 2007
If you love dogs, you should meet Ritsa Galitsis.
Her dog has gone missing. That’s hardly earthshaking news in the larger scheme of things. Plenty of dogs and cats wander off, get lost or stolen and they either find their way home or they just disappear, seemingly into the ether.
The utility poles in my neighborhood are studded with rusted staples, tacks, nails and tiny bits of paper - the sad reminders of “lost pet” fliers that yield little more than hope before they fade and fall apart in the wind and rain. It’s part of everyday life.
Galitsis has fliers, too. She’s posted scores of them in the Bronxville post office area in what has become an epic, if quiet, search for a 60-pound American foxhound mix named Baron.
With the help of friends, she has walked the streets day and night, looking for the 4-year-old dog. She’s searched in backyards and knocked on doors. On the coldest night of the year, she gamely camped out in a car in the Cedar Knolls neighborhood of Yonkers, where Baron has been sighted several times.
Baron is leery of people and will likely run if approached. But that’s not the hardest part about bringing him back to his owner. The real problem is that he is far away from home, and has no chance of getting there on his own.
“He has no idea where he is,” said Galitsis, who lives in Selden, Long Island.
On Feb. 28, she took Baron on a trip to visit a friend in Yonkers. They went to Scout Field, a popular spot for running and socializing dogs that borders the Metro-North Railroad tracks. Galitsis immediately let Baron off his leash, something she had done many times, but this was a new and strange place. “I wish I had held onto him a little bit longer,” she says now. “I keep rethinking a bunch of things.”
She simply wasn’t prepared for the commuter train that suddenly sped by. Frightened by the noise, Baron took off. He’s been roaming loose ever since and by now is probably quite cold, more than a little stressed and very hungry.
When I first spoke to Galitsis it was late Tuesday afternoon and she was with Ann King of Yonkers. Both women are professional dog trainers. (King’s sport utility vehicle has a sticker that says, “Dog is my copilot.”)
They had spent most of the day scouring Cedar Knolls, where Baron has been spotted more than once since his disappearance. Because the dog usually flees, Galitsis had requested that people quickly call her cell phone if they happen to see him.
“Today, a woman just called and she saw the flier,” Galitsis said. “That’s when she realized that the dog she heard scratching at her back door Friday night was him. When she went to the door, he took off. So she called us and gave us the details about that.”
As a result, Galitsis and King decided to stake out Ellison Avenue. Tuesday was a horrifically frigid day with a biting wind chill. “Not a good day to be out and about,” said Galitsis, who was bundled up to fight the cold, which was only getting worse as the sun started to go down.
“Wouldn’t it be nice if he showed up right now?” King said.
“That only happens in the movies,” Galitsis said with a laugh.
Galitsis decided to spend the night in King’s SUV, hoping that Baron would show up. Across the street, she parked her own car, leaving the hatch open and a warm blanket for the dog. Some food was placed nearby. She made it through most of the night, but no Baron. A thieving skunk got the food.
“It was freakin’ freezing,” Galitsis said.
She was tramping the streets again yesterday morning. Someone called and said the elusive hound was seen near School 8.
“God,” she said. “I feel like I’m within blocks and I just can’t see him, you know? He’s here somewhere.”
The amazing thing is Baron is still going, after more than seven shelterless days. Galitsis takes comfort in the reports she keeps hearing.
“That means he’s alive and well and still in the area,” she said. “That’s huge. Thank God for that because with some of the cold spells and everything, I’ve been really frightened for him.”
The search for Baron has become a minor epic. But it’s more than just a story about a lost dog. It’s really about the essential goodness of people.
“People have been amazing,” Galitsis said. “I said to Ann, ‘You know what? When this is all over I’m moving up here.’ I mean, the compassion. … Everyone wants to be helpful.”
That was going to be the finish for this column, but not so fast. I had a funny feeling all day that I’d get a last-minute call and I did, right on deadline. It was Galitsis and it was about Baron. She found him.
She was driving down a street late yesterday afternoon and there he was. Galitsis called to him and his ears picked up at the sound of her voice.
“He had to cross the street and he got a little nervous, but he just kept going,” she said excitedly. Baron was thin and tired. Except for favoring one paw, he seemed to be all right.
“He’s exhausted.” his happy owner said. “He’s laying in my arms.”
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