By Howard Koplowitz
Emily Kruzynski said three 105th Precinct police officers brought the missing dog, which they found on a stoop in St. Albans, to the hospital about two weeks ago without a leash. She was lactating.The Rotweiller had a microchip implanted that would have helped identify its owner but the device was not activated, Kruzynski said.Dogs that do not have an active chip have only a 10 percent chance of surviving if they go missing, the veterinary staff said.”If you microchip, you have a much more reasonable chance,” said Dr. Andrew Karmin, a veterinarian at the hospital. “It's important to do and it saves a lot of anguish and aggravation.”The Rotweiller was taken by police to a Brooklyn shelter.The next day, Kruzynski got a call from a client saying Diamond, his friend's Rotweiller, which had given birth to five puppies, was stolen from his yard. She said the client was asking for advice on how to raise the puppies without the mother.”The light bulb went off in my head,” she said, remembering the situation from the day before. Michael Hayes, the client, said if he had gotten a different receptionist when he called, the dog may not have been reunited with her puppies.”If I didn't get the right person at the right time, this wouldn't have happened. Who would've ever thought that that sequence of events would happen?,” said Hayes, a St. Albans resident. “I was floored. I was like 'are you kidding me?'.”Kruzynski said she felt the same way.”If I didn't take the phone call, nobody else would've known” about the missing Rotweiller, she said. “It was a crazy set of coincidences.”Hayes' friend eventually called the shelter and his description of Diamond fit the dog that had been taken there.”Everybody was happy,” Kruzynski said. “The dog got her puppies back.”J.R. Cassanova, Diamond's owner, said he never thought his dog would be found.”I called every shelter and nobody located her so I thought I wouldn't see her again,” said Cassanova, who lives in Elmont, L.I.He suspected that the Rottweiler was stolen because his gate was locked and “normally, a dog with puppies wouldn't leave.”Cassanova said he would activate Diamond's microchip as soon as she recovers from an ear infection.Established in 1946, the Bellerose Animal Hospital is the longest standing business in the neighborhood.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
