After several worrisome days apart, "Doc," a cattle dog, is back together with his guardian, Lowell Cain, an agriculture detective with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department.
Cain lost Doc, an official "mascot" for the sheriff's department, along Interstate 75 when the dog managed to maneuver his way out of a trailer which was being pulled by Cain's truck following a training exercise.
According to Wednesday's publication of the Tampa Bay Times, Doc was picked up by a good Samaritan that afternoon, and yesterday, he was reunited with his rightful guardian.
The good Samaritan was 22-year-old Sean Ricciardi.
Ricciardi did not see the dog bounce out of the trailer and onto the roadway, but he did see Doc running along the busy roadway that day.
After observing the dog running by the interstate, he pulled over to help. Doc fled the busy roadway and for approximately a mile, Ricciardi followed. Eventually, he was able to corral Doc and get him out of harm's way.
Doc's rescuer phoned several animal agencies on Saturday, but at the time, they were unaware that the sheriff's department was missing the dog.
Adding to the mystery of who Doc belonged to was a lack of an identification tag, and Doc's microchip which did not have current information.
Ricciardi tried the animal agencies again on Wednesday - this time, he was informed that the sheriff's office was desperately seeking a dog who matched Doc's description.
Ricciardi was unaware of the $1,000 reward and had missed the circulating surveillance video on the local news because he does not own a television.
Despite all of the obstacles, Cain and Doc were finally reunited. Cain has stated that he will not put Doc in the trailer again and Ricciardi is grateful that he was able to help.
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