Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?—

Neighbors Rally

To The Rescue Of Nellie

By Nancy K. Crevier

You can’t tell the Martinelli family of Ridge Road that we live in a world bereft of compassion, concern, or a sense of community.

More than 50 neighbors joined Steve and Laurie Martinelli and their three daughters, Kate, Sally, and Amy, on Easter night to search for something far more precious than the Easter eggs many had hunted for earlier in the day — Nellie, the Martinellis’ brand new Cairn terrier puppy that had disappeared.

“A month ago,” said Mrs Martinelli, “if you had told me we’d have a dog, I would have told you you were crazy.” Her girls, however, had other thoughts. Mrs Dominico, a teacher at Head O’ Meadow School, had talked about her Cairn terrier, a “hair,” not “fur,” breed, which is less likely to cause allergic reactions. Dirt and dander was one of the arguments the Martinelli girls’ parents had set forth in arguing against a pet.

Kate, 10, Sally, 9, and Amy, 8, set about researching the Cairn terrier breed. They left notes all over the house to their mom and dad — pasted to mirrors, tucked into shelves, and taped to doorways. Mr Martinelli found himself tripping over stuffed dogs in every room of the house. The three girls culminated their campaign with a picket line, carrying signs they had made protesting the lack of a dog in the household.

Impressed by their hard work and dedication to the cause, the parents capitulated and the day before Easter the family brought home a wriggling, whiskery bundle of puppy from a breeder in Simsbury.

Nellie spent her first day, Easter, visiting relatives out of town with her new family. When they returned that evening, it was already dark. As any puppy owner knows, there are never too many potty breaks before bedtime, and it was during this last trip that Nellie, spooked by a noise or quick movement, bolted, running off into the chilly night.

“She’s just the color of everything this time of year,” said Mrs Martinelli. “Kind of brown and gray and black.” The family called and searched for 15 or 20 minutes to no avail. Deciding they needed help, they called a couple of friends.

She exclaims, “In just a few minutes, a whole circle of the neighborhood was out looking!”

Adults, teenagers, adolescents, and children combed the yard and surrounding streets, calling and whistling, in hopes that little Nellie would come running. For nearly two hours the streets in the neighborhood were bright with dozens of flashlights sweeping the brush, and spotlights and floodlights pouring light into the darkest cracks and crevices. Concerned neighbors hopped into cars and slowly drove the area roads, hoping that the headlights might shed light into dark ditches where a puppy could hide. Despite the chilly temperatures and light mist, no one gave up.

At 11 pm, the Martinelli family called off the search, put a blanket on the back step, and went to bed broken-hearted.

Mr Martinelli, “the big, bad dad, who didn’t want a puppy to begin with,” according to his wife, stayed up until 1:30 am in a fruitless search, then was up with the sun in the morning. He could not bear to think of his daughters coming downstairs to a house with no puppy.

At 5:30 am, Liz Dorso from Valley View Road knocked on the door. She had no puppy, but she had made up fliers to be posted. By the time school buses had picked up the children, more than a dozen adults had gathered in the pouring rain to continue the hunt for Nellie.

“I was so amazed. I thought, ‘What if this was a child lost?’ What an amazing turnout for just a puppy,” said Mrs Martinelli.

Even friends from outside the neighborhood joined in looking for the puppy. Kate and Brad Eggleston live on Hyvue Drive, two miles away, but wanted to help their friends. Mr Eggleston came up empty-handed Easter night, so Mrs Eggleston donned her rain gear the next morning and headed out.

“When I saw the picture of Nellie, I thought ‘This puppy isn’t any bigger than a guinea pig. She couldn’t be far,’” she said. She began combing the perimeter of the property, crawling through wet leaves and pushing away prickly brush.

Her instincts were right. Hunkered down in a bramble, Mrs Eggleston found Nellie.

“When I saw her, at first I wasn’t sure it was a dog, or what kind of an animal it was.”

Nellie was fierce and frightened. She growled and barred her teeth, convincing Mrs Eggleston to return to the house for Mr Martinelli, who had stayed home from work.

“As soon as the puppy smelled his hand, it was like she knew this was the daddy,” said Mrs Eggleston. “She was licking his face and all happy.”

Surprisingly enough, the 12-week-old puppy was herself within minutes of being returned home. She ran to the outstretched arms of the Martinelli girls, licking them enthusiastically.

For the seven years they have lived on Ridge Road, the Martinellis have believed that they live in a special neighborhood. People trust each other and rely on each other, they say. But the network of support generated by their tiny pet overwhelmed them.

Said Mrs Martinelli, “We couldn’t have found Nellie without the help of everyone. It is truly unbelievable.”