A dog belonging to a man killed in the Joplin tornado has been found and has been returned to the man’s family.
Joyce Richey, mother of tornado victim Johnnie Richey, wipes away tears after her son’s dog, Sugar, was reunited with the family. Richey was among the five people killed when the Joplin Elks Lodge was leveled by the tornado. Photo courtesy JOPLIN GLOBE | B.W. SHEPHERD
A taxi driver says he spotted a cocker spaniel walking down a street and picked it up. He put a picture of the dog on Craigslist and within hours the family of tornado victim Johnnie Richey was in touch.
The dog has been treated for severe dehydration, eye and ear infections, and flea infestation but is recovering.
The Joplin Globe reports the cab driver says he took Sugar back to the Affordable Taxi shop, where his in-laws cared for her. They said Sugar “drank bowl after bowl of water” and looked “pretty beat up.”
The cab driver says it was obvious that Sugar had once been well cared for, they realized, but the past few weeks had been rough on her.