The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Dog lost since 2007 found over 1K miles away in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH >> A toy fox terrier that disappeared from its family’s south Florida home in 2007 was found this week over a thousand miles away in Pittsburgh and reunited with its owner on Friday.
The 14-year-old named Dutchess was found hungry, shivering and in serious need of a nail trim under a shed on Monday, according to Humane Animal Rescue.
The property owner took the dog to a Humane Animal Rescue location, where staffers were able to locate a microchip and trace the dog back to its owners in Boca Raton, Florida.
The dog’s owner, Katheryn Strang, drove all the way to Pittsburgh for an emotional reunion with Dutchess .
Boca Raton, Florida, is about 1,130 miles (18184.74 kilometers) from Pittsburgh.
Strang said she couldn’t believe it when she got the call that her dog had been found after all these years.
She said her son opened the door after school one day and Dutchess got out and they never saw her again. They were living in Orlando at the time near a very busy street and she assumed the dog was either hit or scooped up by someone.
She checked shelters daily in the weeks after Dutchess went missing, and continued to pay the annual fee on the microchip, as well as update her contact information whenever she moved.
“They are like your babies. You don’t give up hope,” she said at a news conference after reuniting with Dutchess.
As she kissed and hugged her long-lost pet, she murmured to the dog: “Where have you been?” in 2015. The complaint states that Maruszczak expressed his disbelief that she would support his opponent and allegedly alluded to the idea that if something bad were to happen to her in the future she would know why. Maruszczak denied confronting her, explaining that he spoke with her as she was outside his home and denied ever threatening her in any way in his documented responses to the complaint.
“Respondent Maruszczak’s misconduct is obviously improper and violative of the ethical standards required of judicial officers. This Court is aware that emotions can run high during an election campaign but that does not excuse this misconduct,” the board wrote in their Oct. 4 filing.
In their discussion of the factors of the case, the board wrote: “Respondent Maruszczak’s misconduct arose out of his surprise and anger at finding former political supporters instead backing his electoral opponents. Such conduct, while clearly wrong, is more understandable when it occurs in the course of a hard fought election rather than in the normal course of judicial proceedings. Such misconduct warrants a sanction nonetheless.”
The Court of Judicial Discipline has jurisdiction over all judicial officers in Pennsylvania and must hear and decide formal charges which are filed against a judicial officer.
Judicial officers include all magisterial district judges; judges of the Courts of Common Pleas, the Commonwealth Court and the Superior Court; and justices of the Supreme Court. The Court of Judicial Discipline has the authority to impose sanctions, ranging from a reprimand to removal from office, if the formal charges