Missouri man’s dog went missing months ago. They were reunited on New Year’s Day in IL
Athena the playful pit bull mix needed to be rescued.
The 2-year-old pup and other dogs had been neglected by the person keeping them on a property in East St. Louis. Three of the dogs kept there had died.
Little did Athena know her rightful owner, Dylan Summers of Bourbon, Missouri, was looking for her all along. He would have never guessed she had ended up more than an hour away.
Summers had searched for Athena since she disappeared from his backyard last February, not long after a veterinarian amputated her leg. A car had hit Athena and she was still healing from the procedure when she went missing.
“I searched everywhere for her and posted online, but no one came forward,” Summers said.
More than 75 miles away, Athena was being kept in a dangerous situation, said Alisha Vianello, program director for the animal shelter that eventually took the dog in.
After learning of the abuse, St. Clair County Animal Control and local authorities rescued the dogs in early December, Vianello said. Animal control officials and local police were not immediately available Saturday for comment on why the person was keeping the dogs or if the person would face charges.
Athena went to Gateway Pet Guardians, a shelter that provides community support to pet owners in the East St. Louis area.
Her situation was unusual. Most people in East St. Louis are “incredible pet owners,” Vianello said. Most of the time the shelter’s work involves taking in stray or lost pets, or re-homing pets because of a personal situation — not confiscating animals from abusive situations.
Shelter staff were even more surprised by Athena because she had clearly received good veterinary care for her amputation, and she was already spayed. Why would she now be neglected by her owner?
“It didn’t make sense that the person wasn’t taking care of the dogs,” Vianello said.
But with Athena’s friendly attitude and house-trained manners, they knew she would find a new home. They took photos of her and posted them on their pet listing website, dubbing the three-legged dog “Miss-A-Toe.” People soon began applying to adopt her.
Meantime, after 10 months of searching, Summers had started looking to adopt another dog when earlier this week a friend sent him “Miss-A-Toe’s” listing. He called Gateway Pet Guardians and left a voicemail for Vianello.
The program director happened to check her messages before she went to bed Wednesday night. She called him back immediately.
“All the missing pieces really came together when I spoke to Dylan,” Vianello said.
The next day, she called Athena’s foster family and arranged for everyone to meet at the shelter. Summers proved Athena was his dog by showing multiple photos and videos from before she went missing.
And on New Year’s Day, Summers and Athena were reunited.
“When she came home, she acted like she never left,” Summers said. “It’s just a miracle, honestly.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 12:13 PM.
