Welcome to My World – Veteran Finds 8 Lost Dogs
Hello World! This is a sad, and a feel good story, at the same time, that I wanted to share with you about a Veteran and her lost dog. I thought this to be an appropriate time of year for such a story. I hope it tugs at your heart strings like it did mine, and I also hope that Ozzy is found soon…
This is her Service Dog, Ozzy, whom she still hasn’t found.
I wasn’t going to post on Christmas Day, but if this helps find Ozzy, why not? We could all use a Christmas Miracle at times…
Veteran Searching for Missing Service Dog Finds 8 Other Lost Dogs
For the past two years, a service dog named Ozzy has been constantly by the side of Lori Bilyou, a combat veteran who suffered a brain injury in 2012 while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Ozzy, who was provided to Bilyou by K9 Navigators Assistance Dogs, helps her stand, walk and visit public places. He picks up items she can’t due to her balance issues. He calms the anxiety she often experiences as a result of PTSD.
The large, gray goldendoodle
(golden retriever/poodle mix) “was designed by (Muppets creator) Jim
this breed, golden doodle, looks a bit like a Jim Henson creation! What do you think?
Henson, and he gave him his personality as well,” Bilyou jokingly told The News Journal.
During the afternoon of Oct. 18, Ozzy had a grand mal seizure. Afterward, apparently spooked and confused, he jumped over their fence around Bilyou’s Newark, Del., home – which he’d never done before. He collapsed when he reached the road, but was able to get up and run away before Bilyou could stop him.
Ozzy’s vet told Bilyou that the dog was likely in a “post-ictal state,” when a dog can be temporarily blind and disoriented after a seizure, with no memory of home.
Bilyou has been doing everything she can to find Ozzy.
She’s enlisted the help of volunteers to distribute her flyers and search local parks and trails. She’s notified mail carriers and delivery people about Ozzy, and has placed surveillance cameras on trees in the area. To help cover the more than $7,000 she’s spent so far in her efforts to find Ozzy, Bilyou refinanced her house, she told USA Today.
The bad news is that although Ozzy sightings have been reported in Delaware and Pennsylvania, Bilyou hasn’t yet been able to locate him. The good news is that during their search over the past two months, Bilyou and her helpers have found eight other lost dogs. Seven of them have been reunited with their very grateful owners.
“I like to think that Ozzy is collecting up all the strays before he comes home,” Bilyou told USA Today.
Most recently, someone who thought they had located Ozzy on Dec. 8 actually found Lilly, who’d run away as her blind owner recovered from surgery.
Meet Lilly.
Someone called tonight with an Ozzy sighting. We arrived to find Lilly. Lilly escaped her owner who is blind and recovering from surgery. Lilly gave us a run for our money, but in the end dog #8 was safely returned home. Ozzy’s turn has to be coming up!
We just came back from recovering lost dog #7.
This old gal is mostly blind and deaf, and really didn’t need to be out in the rain. Someone saw the Ozzy poster and called thinking it might be him. We’re so glad to be able to reunite Callie with her owner. It’ll be our turn soon!
Because Ozzy suffered a seizure,
he may no longer be able to be a service dog, but that doesn’t matter to Bilyou. She’s been contacted by some other service dog organizations about getting another dog, which she told The News Journal made her feel like she was “trying to be set up for a first date after losing a spouse.”
If you’re in Newark, Del., southwestern Chester County, Penn., or the surrounding areas, please keep an eye out for Ozzy. If you think you see him, call 302-765-8694. Just be aware that you shouldn’t try to catch Ozzy or lure him to you. As a service dog, he’s trained for one handler.
“He’s in survival mode,” Bilyou told The News Journal. “He will run from everyone. I’m concerned about the hunters in the parks. I’m concerned about dogs chasing him and people trying to catch him because we need him to stay in the area so that we can catch up with him.”
For the latest Ozzy sightings and more ways to help find him – and hopefully the good news soon that he’s been reunited with Bilyou – visit the Bring Ozzie Home (@lostservicedog) Facebook page.
Ozzy and I enjoying the outside in happier times ~ Thank you all for continuing to keep a look out for Ozzy. Please PM if the area you live in is missing flyers and you are willing to hang a few up.
I truly hope that Ozzy is found and that he is reunited with Lori Bilyou because it sounds like they need each other; maybe now more than ever…
Have a great healthy day!
Enhance Your Life with Mother Nature! Great for your Mind, Body & Spirit!