After four long weeks, a happy Christmas homecoming for lost dog
For four weeks, Colin Browning and Maria Odler of Foxboro lived a nightmare when Okaya, their 4-yearold German shepherd, went missing.
On Monday, though, they received a holiday miracle when they got word Okaya had been found — about 15 miles away in Pawtucket. Somehow, she survived, and even remained quite strong and agile during the weeks spent living outdoors.
“She is a treasure, and we went through a very bad time for the last four weeks when she was gone,” Browning said.
Okaya — named for one of the most beautiful cities in Japan, according to Browning — went missing Nov. 24 from the Stop & Shop on Main Street in Foxboro after one of her owners opened the car door to move her from the front seat to the backseat. Her disappearance sparked a huge community effort to reunite the dog with her family.
Posters of Okaya were hung from telephone poles and in business windows. Her lost dog post on the PawBoost Facebook page got 47,000 views, according to Browning. Her family called in the services of professional dog tracker Jamie Genereaux who Browning said worked by baiting a site with chicken and capturing what visited the spot with motion-activated cameras that sent the signal to his iPhone.
“We got many, many sightings of animals but we never got her (Okaya) to come,” Browning said. “On one of the sites, we saw so many different animals. They had a possum, coyotes, of course.”
There were many various reports and possible sightings, which led to stepped-up searches in several specific areas. A bit over a week ago, the Foxboro Fire and Police Departments even responded to a sighting on Interstate 95, but to no ultimate avail. Police had even tried using their drone device to attempt to locate her, Browning said.
“It was very frustrating because we kept getting sightings from people,” Browning said. “She was moving around a lot. She is a very athletic dog, she can run like a deer, she bounces and jumps. She is also a very nervous dog and she doesn’t like to be approached by people. She would run from anybody.”
Neighbors Jim and Maureen Loible, who have lived near Browning and Odler for 10 years, created a map of different locations in which Okaya was sighted.
Jim said the neighborhood got together to search, driving around looking for Okaya. But the longer it went on, the more concerned they became.
“We put some food out, set up some night cameras but we never captured her image,” he said. “We asked permission to put the camera on other homeowners’ properties and everyone agreed to help.”
Deborah Stone, who doesn’t personally know Browning or Odler, saw Okaya’s lost dog posting on the Foxboro Discussion Facebook page.
“I began to gather volunteers from Foxboro to make and hang flyers around town and distribute them to businesses,” she said. “We stayed in close touch with Genereaux, and he would help us narrow down locations to put up fliers.”
She thinks the group of seven volunteers hung up or gave out about 500 flyers over 3 1/2 weeks.
“I was inclined to help because several years ago one of my dogs went missing and I remember feeling very alone and trying to search for him,” Stone said. “In the end, I did get my dog back thanks to very alert neighbors and the flyers I had hung up.”
After all the flyers, social media posts and searching, on Monday, Browning got several calls that Okaya might be at the Pawtucket Animal Shelter, having been noticed online by one search follower. She apparently, after having moved in the general direction of home for around two weeks, trended down the freight train line, and, ultimately, to Pawtucket. There, workers at the adjacent Water Department facility, saw her, contained her and brought her to the shelter.
“We would have not known it because it was too far to expect the dog could run so far away in such a short time,” Odler said.
Browning heard the news close to the shelter’s 3 p.m. closing time, so on Tuesday, he arrived at 10 a.m. right when the shelter opened for the day. He confirmed Okaya’s identity by scanning the microchip number.
It was a joyous reunion for Okaya and her owners, one that continues to fill their hearts.
“We are very happy and, of course, very pleased by the reaction of people in our town of Foxboro,” Odler said. “My husband got so many telephone calls from people who were trying to help. When you are under stress losing this dog (Okaya), it is very helpful psychologically to know there are people who try to help.”
“One good thing that came out of all of this was to learn how many wonderful people are in Foxboro in the surrounding area,” Browning said.
Their helpers are overjoyed, too.
“We were on the verge of giving up hope because it was going on for a month, but there she was in the rescue center down in Pawtucket,” Jim Loibel said.
Stone said she was “absolutely relieved” Okaya was home.
In addition to the love that embraced Okaya upon her homecoming, she received quite the treat from another admirer.
Steve Tromara, a member of the family that developed the property where Browning and Odler reside, had gotten to know the couple and Okaya over the years.
“She (Okaya) and I have a deep relationship, and I was pleased to bring her a nice cut of steak, donated by the very same Stop & Shop market from which she disappeared, originally,” Tromara said. “There are, indeed, a good many happy hearts, today, after many days and nights of experiencing the deep and deeply-opposing forces of hope and futility and uncertainty.”