Family Finds Lost Pet And More

A Chattaroy family survived a summer puppy tale that rivals Disney’s “101 Dalmatians.”

The story started in June with tears and ended seven weeks later witho smiles.

It begins with the Alfonso family returning home from the vet with its black Labrador, Yukon, to discover its other Labrador, Felicia, missing.

The four Alfonso children were heartbroken.

Their mom, Suzette, began an all-out search for the pet, knowing in the back of her mind that there was a good chance the 2-year-old Felicia might be pregnant.

“I placed ads in the paper. I called the Humane Society every day, I did everything I could think of,” she said.

Weeks passed, nothing happened.

Suzette Alfonso is convinced the dog was stolen. Felicia is never seen without her red collar and dog tags. Alfonso is certain that if the dog had run off and was found by someone, they could have easily contacted the family through the information on the tags.

On Aug. 8, two months after their pet disappeared, Ericha Best at Spokane Humane Society called the Alfonsos.

They had a black Lab that had been at the shelter for several days and was next in line to be put to sleep.

“I dreaded it because she was so pregnant,” said Best. “We tried finding her foster care, but no one was available,” she said.

With time running out, Best combed through the collection of lost animal advertisements the shelter clips from the paper each week. She’d gone through a month of ads when she reached the Alfonsos.

Could the dog possibly be theirs?

“I was hoping that even if she wasn’t theirs, we might be able to talk them into keeping her,” said Best.

The Alfonsos were there in minutes, knowing by now not to get their hopes up.

But the dog they found at the shelter hardly resembled the frisky pet they’d lost.

This animal was thin and weak. She was in labor, suffering kennel cough and an eye infection.

When the children, ages 5 to 10, rushed to the kennel, the dog barely lifted her head.

She didn’t seem to respond to her name.

Alfonso just wasn’t sure it was her dog. She called her husband to come to the shelter.

Vic Alfonso arrived. In his deep voice he called to Felica, then softer, mentioned, “Yukon misses you.”

At the mention of the other dog, Felicia raised her head. Instantly, the family knew it was her.

By that time, three puppies had already been born. Three or four more had arrived by the time they were ready to leave.

Tears flowed.

“I started crying,” said Best. “I cry all the time on this job, but this time they were tears of happiness.”

When they finally brought Felicia home, she settled automatically into her favorite spot next to an armchair. Another puppy was born.

By the end of the evening there were 11 puppies, some black, some yellow. There were seven males and four females.

Five days later, the puppies, their eyes still tightly closed, snuggled with Felicia in an extra-large cardboard box.

Squeaking and squealing, they crawl and tumble over each other, trying to reach their mother’s milk.

Alyssa, 5, picks up a puppy and rubs noses with the wiggling bundle, marveling at its tiny size.

“We saved 12 dogs,” said Best.

“I don’t think they could have been any more happy than I was,” she said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo