The English Bulldog Puppy Blog

NORTHUMBERLAND – A feeling of hope goes for a long way for couple, Bethany Whyne and Adam Heim, who never gave up to find Maggie, their beloved 2-year-old English bulldog, stolen on October 8 from the backyard of their home on Second Street.

Almost four months later, that hope, and their prayers, was rewarded.

“It was a long shot, but we found her,” said a much-relieved Heim on Monday night. “Bethany and I always had the feeling that she was safe. We were getting constant tips and leads. People really cared about Maggie and us. It was incredible. We finally located her last week and brought her home on Friday night.”

She had not been abused by the dog-napper.

An individual who lives in Williamsport, but had spent time in Northumberland snatched Maggie.

Heim was tipped off last week by a “concerned citizen” in Northumberland who responded to a $500 reward offered by Heim and Whyne for information leading to the recovery of their dog.

“This man thought he knew who might have taken the Maggie,” Heim said. “Turns out, he was right.”

Heim declined to identify the informant.

“I want to respect his wishes to be anonymous, but the truth is that without the reward, I don’t think we would have found Maggie,” he said.

Heim called the Williamsport police after receiving the tip.

“We were lucky,” he said. “A Northumberland borough policeman, who now worked in Williamsport, was familiar with the case. The department was extremely cooperative and helpful.”

Heim drove up to Williamsport on Friday evening and met police at the home where Maggie had been taken.

Whyne, a nursing assistant at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, drove directly from work to Williamsport.

“I was very nervous,” she said. “Our hopes had been dashed so often. I thought, ‘Is this for real?’ I had many nights where I just cried. I mean, Maggie is my child.”

As she approached the house in Williamsport, a police officer motioned for her to come to the porch and identify the dog.

It was Maggie.

“The minute she saw me, I fell to my knees, and she started jumping at me and kissing me,” Whyne said. “We immediately identified her to police and then took her home.”

Whyne and Heim decided not to press charges against the individual.

“It might have been different if Maggie had been mistreated, but she wasn’t,” Heim said. “She was well-fed and groomed. Besides, our whole purpose in offering the reward was to get Maggie back. I wasn’t out to prosecute or pursue this as a criminal matter.”

They had been living in a Northumberland duplex for about a month before the dog went missing.

“It happened in an instant,” Whyne recalled. “It was a beautiful fall afternoon, and Maggie was in our fenced-in backyard sunning herself. I was in the house. Adam suddenly came in the house looking for Maggie. ‘Is she here?” he asked.

She was gone.

“We searched the neighborhood,” Whyne said. “Kids, parents, everyone looked for her. By the end of the day, we had the feeling that someone had just reached in and taken her. She’s such a friendly dog. She would have just jumped into a car.”

Whyne was dogged in her quest to get her pet back. She never gave up hope.

She placed lost-and-found advertisements every day in The Daily Item. They also hung posters and distributed fliers.

“People reacted with disbelief and anger that someone would take a pet,” Heim said.

And although Whyne had tons of calls and suggested leads, nothing panned out.

In the interim, they adopted another dog, Jack, a Schnauzer. They already had a poodle mix named Stewie.

“With Maggie gone, we wanted to give Stewie company,” she said.

Now, all three dogs run and play all over the house together.

“Maggie has to get used to the house again and to Jack, but they’re starting to get along,” Whyne said, laughing.

The day after bringing Maggie home, they began taking down the fliers they had posted all over town.

“We’re getting cheers when people recognize Maggie,” Whyne added. “People are so happy that she is back home and safe.”

“We are so grateful for the outpouring of support we received,” she said. “People, even strangers, kept telling us, you’d find her. Everything will be OK. To all those people, I want to say this is a story with a very happy ending.”

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