William Westhoven

@WWesthoven

ROCKAWAY TWP. - Brandy's fur-raising, five-day journey — which nearly ended with a 45-foot plunge off a quarry cliff — came to a happy conclusion last week thanks to a community that mobilized on foot, with ATVs and social media to reunite the Louisiana shelter rescue dog with its broken-hearted owners.

Escaping from a neighbor's grasp on Friday, the sweet-but-skittish 2 1/2-year-old dog was back home by Friday, eight pounds lighter, sporting a cast on its broken paw and a head cone to keep the Vizsla and Treeing Walker Coonhound-mixed breed pooch from licking tender wounds.

Brandy was resting comfortably on a plush floor bed Monday as her grateful "parents," Stan and April Patiro, searched for the words to express their gratitude to neighbors and Tilcon Mount Hope Quarry staff that executed the boat rescue of their beloved pet from a pond.

"It's the best feeling in the world to have Brandy back with us, and it's all due to everyone out there who helped us, walked with us, printed fliers, shared social media, hiked, biked, droned, horseback, quads, everybody that helped get Brandy home," April Patiro said. "This is our baby girl, and she's healing and recovering all because of them. I can never thank them enough."

Their trauma-packed week also taught the Patiros a valuable lesson about the community they live in. They emerged not only with Brandy back home but with scores of new friends from throughout the greater Rockaway area.

"Stan and I moved to this area only a couple of years ago, and we are amazed at the strength of this community and how everyone pulled together to help us during this time of desperation," said April Patiro, who moved from the Totowa-Woodland Park area shortly after marrying in 2013, seeking more open spaces to raise a family.

It all started on Thursday night when April Patiro experienced intense pain because of complications from antiphospholipid syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that causes blood to clot abnormally and is associated with pregnancy complications. Having suffered two miscarriages and a stroke because of the syndrome, April was rushed by her husband to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she works as a social worker.

He stayed the night but stopped home on Friday, at which time a neighbor watching Brandy told him that the dog had run away.

"My wife is in the hospital and our dog, our baby, is gone," he said. "It was a tough decision, but I had to call April and give her the news."

"I freaked out," April Patiro said. "Brandy was the child we could never have. We're still trying, but she has helped us so much with our pain and everything we've gone through since we got married."

Stan, a personal trainer with the Wellness Center of Northwest Jersey in Randolph, grew up with dogs and surprised his wife in 2014 by adopting the 4-month-old pup, which he was told had been transported north from a shelter in Louisiana.

"I didn't want a dog, I never had a dog in my whole life," April Patiro said. "He insisted. I didn't understand what a dog really meant. Now I do."

Both stressed that they do not blame their neighbors, who immediately helped Stan Patiro launch a search while his wife, still in her hospital bed, rallied the community through Facebook posts and other social-media sharing. By the next day, family members, neighbors and total strangers had joined the search, braving high temperatures outside and communicating through a "Help Find Brandy" Facebook page.

"The team grew every day," April Patiro said. "Kids on bikes, teenagers on dirt bikes, walkers, cyclists, runners, people with dogs, young and old, everyone helped. The news spread like wildfire on social media and soon everyone was sharing the posts, encouraging us to not give up and tagging everyone they knew in the area."

A few sightings were reported, including one near the Hibernia Firehouse, but by Tuesday, they were beginning to lose hope and decided to go back to work.

The next morning, Stan Patiro got a call from Scott Fisher at nearby Tilcon Mount Hope Quarry, a major producer of asphalt.

"He said we think we have spotted your dog here," Stan Patiro said.

Fifteen minutes later, he got another call; they had Brandy, who was badly injured but still alive.

Tilcon manager Bill Conklin said they spotted the dog near the top of what he referred to as a highwall, which dropped 45 feet to the rocky edge of a sump pit where groundwater accumulates. But while attempting to elude her potential captors, Brandy fell over the edge. Despite her injuries, they still could not capture her.

"She was scared, and she's really fast, which is a problem," April Patiro said.

With Rockaway Township animal-control officer Dan McDonald arriving on the scene, a new effort to corral Brandy was launched.

"She was actually at the base of a corner of two high walls, and it was a dangerous area for them to be, because rocks there can come loose and fall," Conklin said.

Also realizing it would be easier to catch Brandy in the water instead of roaming free on the rocky shore, McDonald and another Tilcon employee, Joe Hill, boarded a small boat. McDonald eventually chased Brandy into the water, from where they were able to capture her using a snare pole.

He took Brandy, suffering from several lacerations and road rash in addition to a broken metatarsal, to a local veterinarian, who judged the injuries serious enough to refer them to the better-equipped Animal Emergency and Referral Associates in Fairlfield, where Brandy's fracture was surgically set.

"I've been doing this a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like it," McDonald said. "It was amazing how many people came out of the woodwork to help.”

"It really got together a great group of people, and it was a great ending to a horrible situation," said Tucker Kelley, a well-known township resident and committeeman who helped the search in part by sharing the social-media updates with the close-knit Lake Telemark neighborhood. "(The Patiros) are very nice people, and I'm glad to have developed a friendship out of that, which I never would have developed if this incident did not occur. And I think many people, if not all the people involved, would say the same thing."

The outpouring of love for Brandy continued after the daring rescue as a Green Pond Road resident who joined the search, Regina Krulish-Bozza, started a GoFundMe project to help pay for the many veterinarian expenses incurred, with more expected to follow. Nearly $4,000 had been pledged to the "Support Brandy's Vet Bills" project by Tuesday afternoon.

"Myself, my mother and my girlfriend were walking up and down Snake Hill with my dog, shaking dog food and calling for her, six or eight miles a day," said Krulish-Bozza, who did not know the Patiros before the search but has since joined their new circle of friends. "After April told me that they found her, I asked for permission to start the GoFundMe page to help out with the medical bills. Just give them a safety net, not have to worry about the heartache and just get the dog better."

Brandy and the Patiro also have been adopted to an extent by their saviors at Tilcon, who have offered to pay for the veterinarian expenses as well.

"Any time we can try and help the community in different ways, we certainly like to do that," Conklin said. "Most of us here are pet-friendly."

"This reunion would never have been possible without the loving, caring, selfless acts and assistance of the town of Rockaway and the Tilcon workers," April Patiro said, passing along a lengthy list of people to thank that was too long to print.

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.



