Whisper
#byefelicia
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thought his dog had drowned when a storm destroyed their boat has been reunited with his beloved pet after she swam more than a mile in the dark to find him.
Stephen Alioto, who lived on the boat
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with Daisy his pit bull, was ashore in Sausalito without her when a massive storm battered the area
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When he returned, all he saw above the water was the boat's mast, and he feared she'd drowned.
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when the boat started filling up with water, Daisy had scrambled through the hatch and, remembering swimming lessons her owner had given her, made it to shore.
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then found her way to Sausalito Presbyterian Church, where she and Alioto sometimes went for free meals.
'My neighbor told me there was a soaking wet, shivering dog crouched in the church doorway,' the Reverend Paul Mowry, who is also the police chaplain,
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Initially, I thought she was just a lost dog.'
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the Sausalito police and the Marin Humane Society and an officer scanned Daisy's microchip, which gave them telephone numbers and told them the dog's name was 'Babe'.
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the person on the end of the phone said the dog had been given away to a friend named Steve, who had changed her name to Daisy.
'We have a Steve who comes to our free lunches on Wednesday,'
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Alioto had reported his missing dog
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After hearing about the report, Sergeant Thomas George recalled the lost dog at the church and called Mowry
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But Alioto was now homeless and impossible to track down. That's when Mowry's partner, Joe Silverman, suggested they go to location holding the next free meal in the city.
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they went to The Open Door Ministries and learned there was a man there telling people his boat sank while his dog was on board.
'I walked over and said to Steve, "We have your dog." He said, "Are you kidding me?" I told him the dog showed up at the church. He started sobbing and threw his arms around me,'
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'I cried so hard,' Alioto told
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Mowry took Alioto to the Humane Society to be reunited with Daisy. He told officers that once he took her in, he had changed her name from Babe.
He told Mowry that, unlike his belongings, Daisy could never be replaced.
'That dog is his companion,'
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'She's his everything.'
Alioto told
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that he was overjoyed to be reunited with his pet.
I'm big daddy Kibbles and Bits,' he said
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'I'm the guy who provides the dog food, the walks, the baths, and everything that she tells me she needs.'
Daisy and Alioto are now staying on a friend's boat. Strangers visiting the Humane Society gave him a 50-pound bag of food, while the shelter gave Daisy a new collar.
'As they were leaving, a Good Samaritan heard the story and handed some money toward Daisy's care,'.
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'This is a beautiful story and I think it says a lot about our community here in Marin and how much we care about animals and people.'
SOURCES
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...ner-after-home-on-water-sinks-near-sausalito/
&
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_27146129/sausalito-dog-sinking-boat-swims-mile-shore-reunited
