After a six-month disappearance, dog returns home

By Jenna Wilson

Levi has returned home to St. Joseph after being rescued by a local resident and returned to the owners, just in time for the holidays.

Six months ago, on what was supposed to be a special day, Levi jumped out of the back of his owner’s truck when they were traveling for a ride to the trails.

“We bought both of our dogs out that day which we don’t normally do,” said Adam Mendez, owner of the dog. “My family and I were headed to bluff trails to go for a walk with them and we put him in the back of the truck. Usually, I don’t like to put him in the back of the truck because he does attempt to jump but I thought we had him trained.”

Levi took off running in downtown St. Joseph and eventually made his way to the River Bluff trails, where he was found by St. Joseph resident Tommy Newberry, a month later.

“I take my dog to run at the River Bluff trails and I spotted him while we were out there,” Newberry said. “The first time I saw him I thought he looked real healthy and was nice so I left him alone. We went back down there about a month later and he was skin and bones so I started feeding him.”

Newberry built a relationship with Levi after taking him food every day for five months before taking him to Angel’s Vet in Savannah to be rescued.

“We looked for him for about a month,” said Mendez. “We looked on Facebook, on Lost and Found and we just couldn’t find any message or any word about him. So, we kind of just gave up on him and that was unfortunate but now he’s back home. It’s all so overwhelming.”

Angel’s Vet Express has dozens of pets and animals dropped off at the clinic daily after experiencing abuse and neglect. Co-owner of Angel’s Vet, Gary Silverglat, said they were grateful to have an animal rescue story with a positive outcome this time around.

“If this place wasn’t here, more than 100 animals would die because there’s no place for them to go,” he said. “But that’s what we do, we try and make sure animals are healthy and taken care of so they can live a normal life.”

Mendez says he’ll be more cautious in the future when it comes to letting Levi have a joy ride in the back of the truck.

“We’re definitely going to walk him around the house on his leash,” Mendez said. “He gets a wild streak in him and likes to go out and explore.”