LIHU‘E — It was late in the afternoon Monday, the clouds had obscured the sun for most of the day, but inside the Lihu‘e Pet Shop the atmosphere was filled with joy and happiness as the five-week-old Shih Tzu pup
LIHU‘E — It was late in the afternoon Monday, the clouds had obscured the sun for most of the day, but inside the Lihu‘e Pet Shop the atmosphere was filled with joy and happiness as the five-week-old Shih Tzu pup that disappeared Thursday was returned by a Kaua‘i Police Department officer.
“He’s in good spirits,” an animated Cindy Bryant said as she pointed out the brown-and-white ball of fur that did not seem to mind being separated from the rest of the litter.
“He’s not well. We’ll take him to the vet on Tuesday morning for a checkup, but for now, we’ve given him medication, and a bath, and he’s in good spirits,” Bryant said as the bundle of fur loped around a water dish in his enclosure, playfully lunging at the inanimate dish.
Since an article appeared about the lost pup in The Garden Island Saturday, Bryant said workers at the pet shop received numerous phone calls from people, many of whom she didn’t know, who expressed their sorrow and concern for what had happened to the pup.
Among those phone calls, there were three leads from people who had spotted the pup later Thursday following his disappearance.
While KPD officers were in the shop following up on those phone leads, Bryant said a third lead came in over the phone pinpointing the lost pup. That led officers to respond, and a few hours later the pup was returned to the pet shop.
Bryant noted that if the pup had not returned when it did, its chances for survival would’ve diminished greatly, as the pup was suffering from stress.
According to Bryant, Shih Tzu pups are susceptible to stress, and once stressed, they fade fast. Bryant was afraid that if the pup had not been returned when it was, it would’ve died.
Patrons coming in for their late purchases on the way home were delighted to see the return of the pup that had caused much concern to animal lovers on and off the island.
Bryant said that one lady was crying in her shop after reading the Saturday story in the newspaper, and another came in to express her concern for the pup’s safety and how terrible she felt — all this on the day she had to pick her husband up from the hospital. But, it was something she had to do, she told Bryant.
“People have been really helpful,” Bryant said. “I even had a real macho-looking guy stop in one evening to say how terrible this incident was.
“It’s uplifting to know that there are a lot of people who care,” Bryant said.
“You are going to tell the people the pup has been returned?” KPD officer Paul Applegate asked Bryant. The School Resource Officer who is familiar to a lot of school students and staff members had recently purchased his own Shih Tzu pup, and since the disappearance of the one at the pet shop, they have all been giving him a hard time, thinking he had taken the lost pup, Bryant said with a smile.
At least four arrests have been made by police officers in this case, and Bryant said the theft is a felony offense based on the selling price of the pup (around $600).
But, for now, the reunion between the pup, the staff of the pet shop, and its siblings, was all it took to brighten the gloomy skies over the Rice Shopping Center.
Sports Editor Dennis Fujimoto may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or mailto:dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
