The innocent victim of an inadvertent “dog-[kid]napping” is safely home in Newcastle after a two-day odyssey on his own in Bath.
George, a six-year-old American Bulldog owned by Terri and Herb Geroux, was recovered in Bath around 8 p.m. June 28.
“He’s home. He is fine,” Terri Geroux said June 29. “He has got a lot of a bug bites. He is drinking a ton of water, but I think he is very happy to be home.”
George was sleeping in the Geroux’s truck when it was stolen from the Irving gas station in Waldoboro June 26 around 4 p.m. The dog was subsequently abandoned in the Bath area, and he was spotted in the Court Street area in Bath at night.
According to Geroux, after her truck was stolen in Waldoboro, it was seen in South Portland and ultimately abandoned in Massachusetts. Law enforcement has not yet released the truck, but Geroux said, until George was found, the truck was a lesser priority.
Geroux’s husband, Herb, who was driving the truck at the time of the theft, was especially stressed by the loss of George. “My husband had gone to Rockland on an errand,” Geroux said. “He was coming back home and he stopped at the Irving station in Waldoboro. He went in to buy a drink… Our bulldog is 115 pounds. He is pretty scary looking. I can’t imagine why anybody would want to get in the truck with him.”
As it turned out, Herb found his lost friend asleep in the grass near Gilmore Seafood.
“My husband knows that dog really, really well,” Terri said. “He kind of knew the types of places George might lean toward. He started looking at mostly tall grasses, shaded areas and trees.
“When my husband found him he was asleep, believe it or not. Herb had to wake him,” The minute he saw my husband, [George] nearly attacked him, he was so happy. I have never seen my husband so happy in his life. We walked back to the car with him and people were like ‘is that George?’ They were screaming and jumping and down.”
Terri Geroux said the family is happy to have George at home and she is deeply touched by the outpouring of support in the search. Her co-workers at the First Savings Bank organized a search party. Her boss gave her time off from work for the search.
“My employer was great,” Geroux said. “I was actually supposed to be in Bar Harbor today for a training session. I called my boss and said this is what happened. I know some people might not perceive this as an emergency, but she just said ‘find George.’
Terri Geroux said she would thank everybody personally, but many of the people who turned out to help search for the dog were complete strangers.
“It was incredible, really incredible,” she said. “I had people I work with show up, not asked, unannounced. I had complete strangers looking; people up and down Court Street looking.”
George may look intimidating, but in his case, looks are indeed deceiving, Geroux said. The only time the dog acts aggressive is when another dog approaches the Geroux home.
“He looks big and scary but he is a wuss,” Geroux said. “If you just open up your car door and said ‘you want to go for a ride,’ he might hop in. If you had a MacDonald’s cheeseburger in your hand, it would increase the odds.”
