4 years later, lost dog reunited with Chicago family

CHICAGO - More than four years after he disappeared, Buddy the dog has been reunited with his Gage Park family.

But Buddy’s tale is also raising questions about Chicago’s Animal Care and Control during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“He was a little skittish and nervous and wouldn’t let me get near him,” said Adriana Valencia.

Valencia found the skinny stray dog in front of her house Monday night in the 5100 block of South Richmond. After luring him into her backyard with food, Valencia called her alderman’s office, which in turn called Chicago’s Animal Care and Control to pick up the dog.

“I didn’t have a leash. I didn’t have a crate. I didn’t have the tools to do that myself,” Valencia said.

But the alderman’s office told her animal control officers were not picking up strays during the COVID-19 pandemic. So Valencia went online and found “Lost Dogs Illinois,” which is a volunteer organization that tries to reunite owners with their lost pets.

“We have reunited approximately 45,000 dogs,” said Lost Dogs Illinois President Susan Taney.

Taney says she called ACC herself and told their dispatcher about the stray dog.

“And she said, ‘well if she can’t get the dog and can’t handle the dog, she should just let the dog loose.’ And I was shocked to hear that response,” Taney said.

Taney sent one of the group’s volunteers to pick up the dog who then dug through years of online posts and pictures of missing dogs until she found a match.

Rosemarie Lopez was 12-years-old when her Maltese French Poodle Buddy disappeared from the family’s Gage Park backyard, which is about a mile-and-a-half from where the dog was found Monday.

“When I saw him, I was like shook. I was gonna cry. I never thought in four years I was gonna find him,” Lopez said.

“Thank you so much to the rescuers, that made up the page to reunite other owners with their lost pets. Because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have found him,” said Rosemarie’s mother Lizeth Lopez.

In a statement, a spokesperson for ACC says the agency “...is responding to service requests that we receive daily...from 311...We regret that the resident did not have a good experience with our dispatcher and we humbly apologize for any inconvenience.”

They also say they are happy Buddy was reunited with his family.