Chuck the dog. Where was he?
Today's Daily Breeze story by colleague Art Marroquin tells the story of how Chuck, adopted in April 2002 as a 2-month-old puppy by Eric and Lisa Nakkim, got out of their gate on Jan. 7, 2007, and vanished -- until last Friday.
The black Labrador/pit bull mix had gotten loose before, but always returned home. This time, he never came back. The family took out newspaper ads and posted fliers, but Chuck never turned up.
"Every night, especially when it was cold, we would think about that dog and wonder where he was," said Eric Nakkim, an emergency room doctor at Torrance Memorial Medical Center.
Then, out of the blue last Friday, a woman called the family to report that she'd found their dog near the Torrance Civic Center. Linda Sheldon had just got off a bus and was walking to her job at City Hall when she spotted Chuck near Maple Avenue and El Dorado Street.
An animal lover, she coaxed the dog over to her and noticed his collar with a silver tag -- the same collar and tag Chuck wore when he escaped. The last number of the phone number was rubbed bare, so it took a few tries, but Sheldon finally reached the Nakkims.
After a checkup with the vet, Chuck is happily back home -- thin, but otherwise OK -- and enjoying a lot of attention from the Nakkims and their two children, Kai and Koa.
Daily Breeze photo by Scott Varley"We're just so thankful that this good Samaritan took the time to check on a missing dog, and that he's finally home with us," Lisa Nakkim said.
"It's just like seeing a long-lost friend," her husband said. "I'm ecstatic and overwhelmed with emotion."
Oh, and Chuck is now sleeping indoors -- all the gates to the home are now secured.
So where was Chuck all that time -- and with his tag still on, why didn't anyone report him sooner? Was he perhaps hanging out with a homeless companion?
The Nakkims will probably never know for sure. And Chuck's not talking.
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About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
I'm so glad Chuck got back to his family. Good job Linda!