Chelsea....a true story.

[lorin]

A true story.

I had a wonderful golden retriever. Her name was Chelsea. During a difficult time in my life my brother agreed to care for Chelsea until I was ready to take her back. So I sent my dog to live in Miami. Chelsea stayed with my brother and his wife for about a year. After a year I was ready to go get my dog back. So I drove down to Miani from the Bronx. On the way down I decided to stop and see my parents on the gulf. While I was at my parents house they received several calls from my brother. I was not privy to the conversations over that next week but apparently this is what happened…..

One afternoon in March my brother has Chelsea in the back of his minivan. He had stopped at a local starbucks to get a cup of coffee. (no, it was not hot out) He left the car running and went in to get the coffee. While he was in the coffee shop someone got in the van and stole the car with Chelsea in it.

In an effort to find the dog and the van my brother began an organized campaign to see if anyone in Miami had seen the van and dog. He went and got all his friends and in-laws, made flyers and went out to the major intersection near where the dog was stolen. He and his people, about 15 of them including his mother and father inlaw, began giving out flyers during the height of commuter hours. Well apparently my brother handed a flyer to some young guy and his friends in a hot red sports car. The guy, annoyed he had been stopped, told my brother to “keep the f—king flyer, that he hoped the damn dog was dead.” My brother, being who he was, grabbed the guy out of the car and began beating the crap out of him. So the guys buddies got out of the car and went after my brother. Anyway the whole thing broke into a huge me lay. My brother, his father in-law, and 7 others end up getting arrested. The traffic helicopter, catches the whole thing on tv. This whole incident makes the 5 o’clock news, where they interview my brother , who has two black eyes and a split lip. My brother talks about the loss of the dog and offers a reward for the return of the dog. This clip ends up getting played over and over for about five days. Then one day my brother gets a phone call from a man in Key West. He says he found Chelsea going through the trash in Key West. So the guy asks for a finders fee (dog napping if you ask me) My brother agrees to meet the guy in a parking lot somewhere outside of Miami. My brother, being who he is, calls the media and tells them the dog has been located. So, backed up by the Miami tv he meets the guy in a parking lot and hands over 2000.00 in finders fee and gets Chelsea back.

Two days later I arrive in Miami to pick up my dog, clueless that all this has happened. I was told about this one year later when my parents were sure I wouldn’t kill my brother for leaving the dog in a running car. As a one year gift they gave me a tape of the incident from Channel 5 news.

[aliantha]

Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose.... I hope somebody also gave you a tape of the handover, where your dog was on TV and not just your beat-up brother!

[lorin]

Well, all's well that ends well, I suppose.... I hope somebody also gave you a tape of the handover, where your dog was on TV and not just your beat-up brother!

Yup, they gave me all episodes, including the beatup brother and the scavenging doggie.

[Menolly]

but...but...but...

Last I heard, there is no channel 5 in Miami.
2, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12 (West Palm Beach), 17, 23, 45, 51, and believe it or not...69.
But no channel 5, that I know of.
Otherwise I would try to find the story in their archives!

Maybe it's the channel the cable company broadcasts it on.
Any idea of the station's call letters, lorin?

[lorin]

LOL It was 20 years ago.

Not really sure of the station number anymore. But somewhere I still have the tape. Maybe I could figure out how to get it on a dvd. It would be good for a laugh.

[Menolly]

I would love to see it!!

[sgt.null]

well i am glad it ended well. post it to youtube so we can see it. become a huge hit!

[Lord Zombiac]

Great story. I can't believe all this happened and nobody told you until a year later!
And yeah, it sounds like dognapping to me too! Had I found the dog I wouldn't have asked for a "finder's fee."
I'd have turned the dog over, hoped for a modest reward and would not have accepted anything over $100!

[Shuram Gudatetris]

$2,000.00 was a lot of money twenty years ago, wasn't it? I can't believe that guy. But at least you got your dog back! I would pay a pretty hefty chunk of change to get one of my dogs back, that is for sure.

"It was the 90's, and a dollar could still buy a coke and a candy bar...."

[dANdeLION]

Anyway the whole thing broke into a huge me lay.

Heh, you mean melee. Great story, BTW.

[lorin]

Anyway the whole thing broke into a huge me lay.

Heh, you mean melee. Great story, BTW.

oops bit Freudian, wouldn't you agree?

[sgt.null]

Anyway the whole thing broke into a huge me lay.

Heh, you mean melee. Great story, BTW.

i was assuming the publicity got him some sweet loving from some beautiful spca women or somesuch.

[balon!]

Lets see the youtube video of that VHS!

Glad everything worked out...