Valley Stream vet helps reunite dog, owners

Central Veterinary Associates in Valley Stream and a good samaritan from Atlantic Beach and were the admired icons for reuniting a lost dog with its beloved owners. On the night of July 23, the animal hospital took care of Ripley, a greyhound who had been lost until the samaritan placed a concerned call to them.

Ripley, an 11-year-old retired racing greyhound, gave Dr. Martin Rosen, a gastroenterologist in Brooklyn, and wife Stephanie Rosen, a nurse currently working for the Island Peer Review Organization, the scare of their lives when he escaped from the backyard of their Atlantic Beach home.

He had raced at a dog track in New Hampshire for three years. After his retirement he was put into a rescue society. Dr. Rosen said most greyhounds race for two years and if not placed in homes by the rescue societies, they are euthanized. The Rosen’s adopted him eight years ago through the Long Island Greyhound Rescue Society.

It was on a Friday evening that the Rosen’s realized that Ripley went missing. At around 5 p.m. they drove around their neighborhood hoping and wishing that they would be able to find him. The Police Rescue Squad was in search of Ripley as well the next day.

According to Mary Smith, the office manager of the hospital, Ripley was found Friday night by an elderly gentleman from Atlantic Beach who contacted Central Veterinary Associates. He said he had no form of transportation to get to the hospital, but he wanted to notify someone that there was a missing dog.

Paying no mind to the time, Central Veterinary sent out an ambulette with a driver who picked Ripley up and brought him to the 24-hour hospital. Smith said that the elder man was very grateful that the hospital was able to bring him into a safe place and even tipped the driver.

“He is a big dog, it was very nice of them,” said Dr. Rosen about the good samaritan. “It was very kind of someone to do that.”

According to Dr. Steven Fox from Central Veterinary Hospital, Ripley came in with a 107 degree heat exhaustion. Dr. Rosen said the dog had a few bruises and scrapes, and he was thankful that Central Vets healed and covered his wounds. “The vets were great,” Rosen said. “They took care of him.”

They initially cooled him down, gave him a rabies vaccination and preformed exams to make sure everything was normal, as they would any other dog that had been lost. Soon after, veterinary staff started the process of locating the original owner. The animal hospital was able to identify that Ripley had a tattooed serial number inside of his ear. Rosen said as part of his racing identification, Ripley had this ID number tattooed to him.

The hospital contacted the Greyhound Rescue Society and through Ripley’s serial number, they were able to track the Rosens. Both the hospital and the rescue society notified the owners where Ripley had been residing and they happily picked him up from the hospital on that Saturday afternoon.

“I was very happy to be able to assist this family in having their dog that was temporarily lost, reconnected with the family,” said Fox. He added that he understands that it can be an “extreme emotional” experience, as there is a developed attachment to their dog, like a family member.

“We are thrilled,” Rosen said about having Ripley safely back in their home. He spoke about how they were really upset when it went overnight because they couldn’t help but worry, however they were “thrilled when that phone call came in.”