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Fair Cristina Teehan forms dog finding network
Last August, Cristina Teehan was pregnant, and bringing in her groceries, when her dog Coco ran out of her home — since then she’s created a Long Island spanning network of people on social media to bring her home.
Teehan, 33, a Northwell project manager from East Northport, said she was eight months pregnant, and storing groceries from her car, when her two year old son, Hudson Teehan, opened the front door to her home, and accidentally allowed their family dog, Coco — a small havanese and toy poodle mix, with beige fur and dark ears — to escape on Aug. 8.
Unfortunately, she said, no one quite noticed Coco escape, so when her husband Connor Teehan and daughter Isabella Teehan came together for lunch almost five minutes later, everyone was surprised they couldn’t find Coco.
“She may only be six pounds, but she is a tremendous part of our family,” said Teehan.
Since then, Teehan has created a Facebook network called, “Operation Bring Coco Home,” where over 1500 people across Long Island help each other reconnect with missing pets and try to find Coco.
“Its kind of crazy that so many people are willing to help,” said Teehan.” These are people that I’ve never met, that are willing to help me.”
Long Islanders like Samantha Schena, have since joined Teehan in her mission to find her dog by searching and setting up flyers in their own communities and sharing her story on social media platforms.
Schena, an academic advisor at Farmingdale State College from Baldwin, said she saw Teehan’s group, “Operation Bring Coco Home” on Facebook and felt she needed to help search for Coco too.
“Being an animal owner, it tore my heart apart to see her without her pet,” said Schena.
Schena said she put up over 30 flyers at local businesses, at Farmingdale State College, and shared the Facebook group with friends. She said she put up flyers at a 7 Eleven on Grand Ave, in Baldwin Bonbino’s Pizzeria at 605 Merrick Road, in Rockville Centre, and Reyes and Reyes Physical Therapy at 807 Atlantic Ave, Baldwin, who have been giving flyers to their patients and customers.
Other businesses, like Flowers of Joy at 143 Mineola Blvd, in Mineola, Herricks Jewelers at 2449 Jericho Turnpike, in New Hyde Park, and Frantoni’s Pizzeria at 66 Hillside Avenue, in Williston Park have also partnered with Teehan to share flyers with their customers.
Similarly, the Girl Scouts of Nassau stepped up to help find Coco. Chrissy Dombrowski, Garden City Chairwoman of Service Unit Volunteers launched an “Acts of Kindness” program, which awards an " Acts of Kindness" patch for all girls who spread the word about Coco.
Teehan said they realized Coco was missing on around 12:30 p.m. and got into her vehicle with her husband to start searching for Coco around town, and asking neighbors if they’ve seen Coco. She said she then posted a picture of her dog to a Facebook group called, “Missing Angels of Long Island,” and asked her friends and neighbors to search for Coco and put up “missing-dog” flyers.
“I was super pregnant, and had two little kids, Hudson and Isabella,” said Teehan. “I was trying to drive, while my husband Connor would get in and out of the car and to put up flyers on telephone poles. It was difficult to the children in a car seat for so long as we searched.”
Teehan said she then started working with Kelly Brach, who runs the Facebook group Professional Pet Trackers, and used her hounds to track Coco by scent in August. She said they followed the hounds, until the scent trail went cold near an intersection, which is when they concluded that someone in a car must’ve picked up Coco.
“At this point we realized whoever has her, doesn’t have the intention to bring her to a shelter or a veterinarian,” said Teehan. “We visited all the shelters and animal hospitals, to no avail.”
Teehan continued her search for Coco, but after two weeks of searching she was told to create a Facebook page, to raise awareness about Coco. She deiced to create the page “Operation Bring Coco Home,” near the end of August.
Teehan said at first, only her friends and family shared their Facebook group page, but grew to over 1500 people within a few months. Since creating her page, Teehan has not been able to find Coco, but has been able to help other pet owners instead.
Teehan said her page has become “a dog finding network,” and although she hasn’t located Coco, she has been able to reunite other pet owners with their missing pets through her Facebook group.
Teehan said she hopes by raising awareness, someone will see Coco and finally bring her home. To contact Teehan about Coco’s whereabouts, visit TinyURL.com/BringCocoHome or email operationbringcocohome@gmail.com.
