Buster comes back after a 2-week trip
Published 10:02 pm Thursday, October 8, 2009
After two weeks, a break-in at his house and dozens of people looking for him, Buster finally made it back home.
“We are just beside ourselves,” said Stephanie Rein, Buster’s owner. “We just felt feel so lucky after so many days of basically nobody seeing him. We’re just so grateful to have him back.”
Buster, a five-year-old chihuahua/rat terrier, had been missing since Sept. 25, when the Rein family was one of the victims in a string of burglaries in North Suffolk. Two burglars kicked in two doors to the family’s home and made off with some of the family’s personal items. Two men have since been arrested for the break-in.
Buster was apparently so frightened during the burglary that he ran out the open doors and was missing for 13 days.
Since then, the Rein family has searched the entire community, went door-to-door hoping someone had seen their beloved dog and put posters up throughout the neighborhood.
And those posters worked out well.
A worker with Vico Construction spotted the dog while working at the nearby industrial park and called Stephanie.
“I was like, ‘You’re kidding me,’” Stephanie said. Stephanie quickly called her daughter, Jessica, who was on her way home from school. Jessica went out to the area where Buster was last seen and started calling for him.
Within 45 minutes, Buster was running toward her.
“She couldn’t believe it when she saw him,” Stephanie said.
Buster had lost a lot of weight, but he was excited to be home. The Reins had him checked out by a veterinarian, who prescribed antibiotics and rest.
“He was so excited,” Stephanie said. “He was jumping and licking on us. It was really sweet. It was touching.”
Stephanie said she was also touched to see how the residents of Suffolk supported the family when Buster was gone.
“People were calling us saying that they thought they had saw him,” she said. “They were blogging nice things. I could not believe it. It’s just touching that people are like that. A lot of times you just lose faith in humanity, but I just feel so lucky after being down for so long.”
