Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

A joyous, furry friend disappears

Irene Thomas, 73, and her family are searching for Deacon, her pet Shih Tzu that vanished from her home Aug. 28.

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published September 11, 2005

ST. PETERSBURG - Irene Thomas is heartsick. Her beloved Shih Tzu has disappeared.

The 73-year-old widow said she was given the dog about a year and a half ago, shortly after her husband died.

"He was such a joy to me. He woke me every morning between 6:30 and 7. He let me know that I had somebody in the house," she said Friday at her home on 22nd Avenue S.

"He was a very friendly dog. He just made a big difference in my life."

She got the pet shortly after he was born and named him Deacon, because her late husband, Charlie O. Thomas, had been a deacon at Queen Street Church of God in Christ.

"We had always had dogs, but after my husband got sick, we stopped," Thomas said.

She said Deacon disappeared on Aug. 28, after she accidentally left the back door open.

"It wasn't 10 minutes I came on out and I was looking for him," she said.

A neighbor said she saw a woman in a Lexus with a white top and bronze body scoop up a dog that looked like Deacon at 22nd Avenue S and 25th Street. Deacon loved cars, Thomas said, and was always ready to go for a ride.

The family has searched nonstop for the pet.

"We put signs up. We put an ad in the paper. Then I went to all the pet shops and to the SPCA shelter, Friends of Strays, but nobody turned him in. I tried to find him everywhere," Thomas said.

Daughter Renee Clement said her mother has refused to move Deacon's crate from its special place in the kitchen. His blanket and toys are tucked safely inside.

"We're waiting for him to come home," Clement said.

[Last modified September 11, 2005, 01:12:29]