AR-News: (IN- US) Dog rescued from river goes home

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Dog rescued from river goes home
By NANCY J. SULOK
Tribune Staff Writer 

 Tammy Roberts, an animal control officer, says goodbye to Zuki just before he went home Monday from the South Bend Animal Control shelter. Zuki, wearing a red bandanna, was rescued last week from the St. Joseph River. The dog in the foreground is Shelba, mother of the 9-month-old Zuki. 
Tribune Photo/NANCY J. SULOK
 
SOUTH BEND -- Zuki went home to his owners Monday morning, five days after being pulled from the icy waters of the St. Joseph River.

The 9-month-old puppy, who had been named Scuba by South Bend Animal Control, belongs to the family of John Goebel, who claimed the dog after paying for licensing and other costs.

Goebel lives in the 1100 block of Oakland Street, just a few blocks from the river. He said Zuki and his mother, a German shepherd/Doberman/Rottweiler mix, escaped from his yard last Wednesday by climbing a fence. The mother, Shelba, came home on her own, but Zuki didn't.

The pup, whose sire is a full-blooded shepherd, apparently ventured onto the ice and somehow ended up in the river. A diver from the South Bend Fire Department went into the frigid water to save the dog.

Zuki suffered from hypothermia -- low body temperature -- when he was rescued. Animal Control took him to the South Bend Animal Clinic to recover. The next day, he was taken to the city's animal shelter on Olive Street.

That's when confusion started over the young dog's rightful owner. Two men, Goebel and Robert Wertz, tried to claim the dog as their own.

Animal Control wanted proof of the rightful owner, but neither man could produce it.

Monday morning, the confusion was sorted out when both men went to the animal shelter, along with other members of the Goebel family. Wertz, it turns out, is staying with the Goebel family. He said he had tried to reclaim the dog on Friday as a Valentine's Day surprise for the Goebels.

But reclaiming the dog was not very easy, or very cheap.

Cathy Brucker, director of the city's Department of Code Enforcement, still wanted proof of ownership. As a compromise, she agreed to let a member of the Goebel family go home and get Shelba, to see how the mother and her pup reacted to each other.

The mother and child reunion took place in the tiny lobby of the Animal Control office, with lots of tail-wagging and jumping around.

It was enough to convince Brucker, who agreed to let the Goebels take Zuki home.

First, however, they had to show a prepaid certificate for a rabies shot from a veterinarian. Then they had to pay $197 to cover the veterinary costs; $7 for a city dog license; $15 for the microchip that was implanted in Zuki; and a $20 reclamation fee, for a total of $239.

Staff writer Nancy J. Sulok:

nsulok at sbtinfo.com

(574) 235-6234