Service dog missing, boy ‘devastated’

KNIK — A distraught mother is pleading for the return of her 8-year-old son’s service dog missing since Wednesday.

Since Abby, an 18-month-old English bulldog trained as a service dog, disappeared from her family’s yard the afternoon of May 23, Judy Reinhart said her son Wyatt has been “devastated.”

Wyatt has emotional problems and displays autistic tendencies, Judy said, which makes it difficult for him to handle pressure situations, crowds or go out in public. Abby’s trained to ease the boy’s anxiety.

“She helps him focus and be calm,” she said. “When we go out in public, he gets really upset because there’s too much input and he just goes off. She stops that and he can go out.”

But since last week, Wyatt has been on edge without Abby there to soothe him, his mom said. And he doesn’t understand the circumstances of her disappearance.

“He’s not eating and he’s trying to go out to look for her. It’s just devastating,” Judy said. “Now, he won’t eat, he wakes up in the night crying, he’s not sleeping well at all. He goes into these fits because he doesn’t understand why she’s not here. He wants us to just go get her and doesn’t understand someone took her.”

Wyatt and Abby were out playing in the front yard at about 2 p.m., Wednesday when he came into the house after finding something, Judy said. When they went back out a few minutes later, Abby was gone. A neighbor saw what appeared to be a tan-colored Bronco-style vehicle pull into the Reinhart’s driveway about that time, but didn’t notice anyone specifically get out and snatch Abby.

“It was a regular day,” she said. “Wyatt gets up in the morning, feeds (Abby) and they go out in the yard and look for bugs and butterflies. They were out in the front yard and had found a fish. I brought the fish in the house to wash it off and he followed me in. Then, she wasn’t there. It happened so quick.”

Asked if left alone, could Abby have ran off on her own, Judy said that’s not likely.

“She would never leave,” she said, adding that as a service dog “she’s trained not to leave.”

Judy and Wyatt spent Thursday putting fliers up around Wasilla with Abby’s photos on them and they have put a notice on Craigslist hoping someone will recognize the bulldog and return her. When they were finished with the fliers, Judy said Wyatt had an emotional fit because they weren’t bringing Abby home with them.

“It’s heartbreaking, because I don’t know what to do,” Judy said. “I put out fliers and on Craigslist and I was hoping that if we put a large reward that maybe whoever took her would let us buy her back. We’ll do whatever it takes. I just don’t know what to do.”

The family doesn’t have much money to replace a specially trained service dog, Judy said, but is offering a $500 reward for Abby’s return. Local police and animal control officers are also keeping an eye out, she said.

Anyone with information about Abby or wanting to return the dog can call the Reinhart family at 373-7471 or (406) 491-7413.

Contact reporter Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.