NJ couple find beloved pup after 3-day search that caused them to call off trip to Tahiti.
Newlyweds Ira Marootian and Luba Abramsky with their pup Presley at the Veterinary Emergency Group in Hoboken, NJ (PIX11/YouTube)
The honeymoon’s on hold but that won’t diminish the cheer at the home of one set of newlyweds this Thanksgiving.
Ira Marootian and Luba Abramsky had just tied the knot and were expecting to trade New Jersey chills for Pacific sunshine over the holiday season.
In fact, the Ridgewood couple were all set to fly to Tahiti for a dream honeymoon when, at the last minute, fate threw a furry spanner in the works.
The pair dropped off their beloved 1-year-old pup Presley at a Jersey City-based dog sitter on Sunday only to learn two hours later that calamity had struck – Presley had gone missing.
“She [the dogsitter] gave us a call saying that our dog Presley got loose and that he got out of his harness and was running the streets,” Marootian told PIX11 News.
Suddenly, the trip of a lifetime was the last thing on the couple’s minds.
“It was immediate terror,” Abramsky told the channel. “I was in my pajamas and we put on our sneakers and went.”
Marootian and Abramsky would spend the next three days doing everything in their power to find their precious pooch.
They tirelessly searched the area where Presley took off; they posted flyers in the hope that someone might come forward with a tip.
“It was a little defeating after two full days of this and we were drained — and we were only sleeping three hours and not eating,” Marootian recalled.
Then, just as hopes had started to fade, the miraculous happened.
As the newlyweds continued their search on Wednesday behind Christ Hospital in Jersey City, a dog walker told them he had spotted a pup that looked like Presley roaming along the cliff side.
“I jumped over the barrier and I’m going down the cliff, I hear footsteps and I turn around and I see him staring at me,” Marootian said. “He started wagging his tail, he ran right up to me — it was one of the happiest moments of my life.”
Remarkably, apart from an abrasion to his leg, Presley was in fine fettle for a pooch that had just gone walkies on his own in the city wilds for three days.
Doctors at the Veterinary Emergency Group in nearby Hoboken, where the pup was taken for treatment, were also impressed by his resilience.
Despite the happy ending, Marootian and Abramsky said they plan to take legal action against the dog sitter. They also hope that Presley’s lucky escape will encourage other dog owners to exercise due diligence before leaving their cherished pets in someone else’s care.
But above all – and in time for just the right holiday – the newlyweds feel incredibly grateful for all the support they received in their search.
“People are good … this really reminded me of that. Everybody we went up to wanted to help,” Abramsky said. “They all had heartfelt responses.”
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The owners should do their due diligence in choosing and appropriate harness. One which the dog can not escape from. It’s definitely not the sitters fault that the dog had a harness that he could escape from. Unfortunate accident but 100% the owners fault