10-Month-Old Puppy Missing From Hamptons Found Safe: I'm So Grateful

NORTH SEA, N.Y. — A heartbroken North Sea family whose 10-month-old puppy disappeared without a trace last week — they thought he might have been stolen — is back home safe and sound.

Oscar, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, was last seen Tuesday, June 25, at his home, his distraught owner Sharon Lynch told Patch.

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Shortly after Patch published the Oscar story on Tuesday, July 2, Lynch said she received a call from a woman in Hampton Bays who told her she saw a Facebook post from a young man who said Oscar was doing well but didn’t know how to find his owner. The man, a rideshare driver from Mastic, then found his number and called.

“He said he found the dog near Southampton, washed him and couldn't get him to a shelter, but his niece had Oscar,” she said. The man told her he hadn't had time to take him to a vet or shelter to get his microchip scanned yet, she added.

The next day, the man and his niece agreed to meet Lynch outside the Panera in Hampton Bays.

“Oscar was wagging his tail as I walked up,” she said.

Lynch said that based on her experience, she has some hard-won advice for other pet owners: She said Oscar, who was in her fully fenced yard, had only been outside for about 20 minutes when she noticed he was missing.

“We're completely fenced in, but he found a little loophole,” she said. “If he chases a squirrel, there's no stopping him.”

She told Patch: “It's my fault for taking his collar off because walks were over for the day and for not marking off the perimeter of the yard. A little crack did the trick.”

Lynch also said she didn't realize that even if a dog is microchipped, the chip doesn't track the dog; it has to be scanned by a professional and, most importantly, registered with a security company that will send a tag for the collar through any phone and also include the dog's name and the identity of its owners.

Describing her ordeal, Lynch said that the day Oscar went missing, she, her husband and daughter drove until 2 a.m. to call him. Fortunately, Lynch said, he wasn’t found injured or worse. “We thought maybe someone had picked him up, and we started calling vets, shelters, letting everybody know.”

Teddy Henn of Long Island Lost Dog Search and Rescue, a tracker who has worked tirelessly to bring dozens of dogs home safely, headed straight to the area with his dog Winston.

“We determined that Oscar had driven down Old Trail Road, off of Roses Grove Road, and then his scent disappeared,” Lynch said at the time. “It’s likely he was picked up and taken away. He could be anywhere: Riverhead, Deer Park, Setauket.”

Lynch, her husband and daughter were devastated.

“Oh, my God. It’s like we lost a family member,” she said at the time. “It’s unbelievable. It’s like when you lose a human being, your brain cells are scrambled, you can’t think straight. That’s what it feels like.”

Sadly, she said, her family has been scammed twice by people who claimed to have Oscar, but despite showing up at the location they were told to — “I sat there for two hours, my heart pounding,” she said — both leads were false. Scammers who prey on a person’s grief, she said, “are disgusting.”

Oscar, she said, had also just recovered from a broken leg, another cause for concern.

Describing her beloved pup, Lynch said, “He's never met a person he didn't like. He's the friendliest animal we've ever met, and we've had a lot of dogs. He's super, super friendly, playful, and affectionate. All you have to do is sit down and he'll jump on your lap.”

Oscar's passing was devastating, Lynch said. “It was a complete loss and grief,” she said. “Last night I sat down to watch TV for the first time since he passed away and for him not to be there, for him to jump on my lap, it's a hole in my soul. It's horrible. I knew I loved him, but I didn't realize the depth of it, the breadth of it, until he was gone.”

Back home, Lynch says Oscar “spent an hour running around the house. His tail didn't stop wagging until he finally fell asleep and started wagging again the next morning when he woke up. His tail wagging in the cage woke me up!”

Lynch said that while the man who found her dog made sure he found his way home, there are others who are evil. To them, she said: “Thieves need to know that there are thousands of people willing to help find a lost dog. The number of good Samaritans is endless and this week they restored my faith in humanity. They need to know that even if they threw away the collar and tag, the chip is there, that signs and posters can help find them, even by neighbors.”

She also added that there are dog trackers who could help. “These dogs, cats and hamsters are family members, not just animals,” she added.

For those who find a lost dog, Lynch recommends taking the animal to the police, local veterinarian's office or a shelter.

Lynch said she was grateful for the outpouring of love from the community that came together to help. “We’re so grateful. I had two scammers, but 573 shares on Facebook. All of these wonderful people far outweigh the bad people,” she said.