A beloved bulldog that had allegedly been missing — and believed dognapped — for six days has been reunited with her human companions.
The happy news comes on the heels of The Brooklyn Paper’s epic online story last week that Sugar, the bulldog, had been stolen in Prospect Park during last week’s snowpocalypse.
Sugar now owes her life to a mysterious Good Samaritan named Jamie, who came upon the 3-year-old dog tied to a tree. After Jamie’s pit bull nibbled on Sugar, he called the phone number on Sugar’s collar and told owner Drucie Belman that the dog was fine.
He would not reveal where he found Sugar, but agreed to meet the family.
Belman and her family immediately ran to Prospect Park West for the tearful reunion.
“We sprinted towards the dog when we saw her,” recalled doggy-daddy Albert Belman. “Our family is back together again — Drucie actually wept.”
It will likely take some time for Sugar to recover. She was chomped on her leg by the pit bull, and has lost a whopping eight pounds in six days (get that pooch some Snausages!).
“Sugar is very subdued. It’s obvious she’s really gone through something,” said Albert Belman. “Normally, she’s rambunctious, but she’s wrapped up in a blanket right now, recovering.”
A veterinarian told the Belmans that Sugar should be fine.
The happy ending was not always so certain.
The drama started on Wednesday morning when Drucie Belman, her two kids, and their beloved bulldog were enjoying the winter wonderland and were heading out of the park near the tunnels leading towards Grand Army Plaza.
That’s where Sugar pulled away from Belman’s 7-year-old son, Leo, and took off, not looking back.
“We just moved back from Hong Kong — Sugar had never seen the snow before,” Belman explained. “She was so excited that she ran into the woods and that was it. … She doesn’t have any recall ability!”
But that was only the beginning — an opportunistic creep apparently swiped Sugar, and is holding her ransom.
“I got a phone call at 2:30 pm when were still in the park looking for her,” Belman said. “The person on the other end asked, ‘How much you want for the dog, How much do you want for her, lady?”
Belman, stunned, offered $50. Seconds later, she realized she would pay $500.
Most maddeningly, Belman missed a second call two hours later from a blocked number — one she assumes was the dognapper. But some of the blame goes to AT&T.
“Damn frozen iPhone!” said Belman.
The caller left no voicemail message.
Optimism faded. As with human kidnap victim, hope of rescue diminishes with every passing day. But sorrow turned to delight after Jamie’s call on Tuesday.
The Belmans speculated that all the publicity eventually forced Sugar’s dognappers into abandoning their dastardly scheme — the story even turned up on CNN in Hong Kong, they said.
Indeed, the family’s hopes were at an all time low earlier in the day, and had gone so far as to enlist the help of “Rescue Ink,” the extremely burly band of badasses who deep down truly love animals.
They also had raised their reward for Sugar to $5,000.
Jamie, the strangely suspicious Good Samaritan, could not be reached despite several phone calls.
For now, the family will be nursing Sugar back to health. Leo has pledged to do his part.
“He’ll be sleeping with Sugar every day of the week,” Albert Belman said.
It’s certainly not the first time that The Brooklyn Paper has spread the word about a missing pet.
Last month, The Paper intervened after the Lax family reported that its beloved chicken, Sophia Lor-hen, had flown its Sixth Avenue coop. That bird is still at large.
And also last month, our reporters helped spread the word that Lora Myers’s parrot Gracie had similarly disappeared. The African Grey was found three days later, shivering, but healthy.
Talk about a parrot trouper.
