©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Please help find Matty; her family is heartbroken
by RICH McILHENNY

Matty, a five-year-old female shi-tzu, and her pal, Jesse James McIlhenny, 4. Jesse and the entire family miss Matty terribly.

I wasn’t too concerned when I got the voice mail from my wife on Monday morning June 12, that our shi-tzu, Matty, had run away. It had happened a few times before, and within an hour she would come back or a neighbor would bring her to us. She would never get too far.

When Marissa called that afternoon and said that she still had not seen her after searching the neighborhood, I started to worry a bit. When I got home from work, we drove around the neighborhood with our two toddlers, Jesse and Daniel, calling Matty’s name while peering down driveways and into yards.

After a couple of hours we returned home, expecting to see Matty on our porch wagging her tail, excited to be reunited with us, but she was not there. Marissa put the boys to bed, and I went out again, widening the search. I drove slowly through the streets of Mt. Airy, into Chestnut Hill, calling her name. Occasionally I would see something small and white and think for a second it was Matty, only to realize it was a cat, another dog that looked like her or even a paper bag.

I gave up and headed back home, thinking that maybe her collar with our phone number on it had fallen off and she had been picked up by one of our neighbors, who didn’t know whom to call.

Several sightings of Matty have so far resulted in dashed hopes.

I lay in bed and pictured her wandering onto the R7 tracks near our house, stumbling along, trying to avoid the trains. And I thought of her walking along Cresheim Valley Drive, with cars zooming by her as she was blinded by their headlights. I then realized that this was the first time in four years that she wasn’t snuggled up at the foot of our bed.

Like everyone else in our house, Matty is just a little different. Her previous owners had dropped her on her head, resulting in a cracked skull. We think it made her peculiar in a few ways. For one, her lower jaw sort of juts out to one side giving her a sort of Popeye look. She also hardly ever makes a sound, including when she has to relieve herself or is hungry. She will just wag her tail and look at us. The only time she barks is when she is at the back door and wants to come in. In fact, she’s sort of like a cat, even jumping up on tables at times.

She is the most loving dog I have ever known. She never snapped at our boys and always protected them. She was the first to greet me most nights when I came home, and would lie between my legs as I read to Jesse and Daniel or while we watched TV. I fell into a restless sleep fearing for her and missing her.

The next morning I immediately went to the front door and pulled back the curtain, expecting to see her there on the porch, if not a note from a neighbor, but there was nothing. I went back upstairs and made up a flyer with her picture on it, and printed out 100 copies. That day I drove around and put them up on every telephone pole I thought would catch someone’s eye. I hit the train stations, grocery stores, the local tavern, anywhere I thought people might frequent. Occasionally I would stop and ask someone if he had seen her and was comforted by how many of them were dog owners and animal lovers who expressed their sympathy and said they would keep an eye out for her. It was hard holding back the tears as they looked at me with such compassion. I am a 42-year-old man. Men aren’t supposed to cry at times like this. We have to be strong. Yeah, right.

That night, I got on my bike and did one of the more grueling rides of my life. Up and down the hills on the west side of Mt Airy, all along the length of Cresheim Valley Drive, where at Buttercup Cottage, I had an overwhelming sense that I was near her. I called her name as I rode, cars flying by. I was afraid she would run out of the woods to me, only to be hit by one of the speeding vehicles. I made my way into Chestnut Hill and to Pastorius Park. Maybe all of the dogs that came here drew her to the park, I thought as I shined my flashlight into the emptiness. Only the croaking of the frogs and the traffic of Germantown Avenue filled my senses. Surely if she came here, someone would have picked her up, I thought.

As I headed home, my heart was in my throat in anticipation once again, that she would be on the porch waiting for me. Of course she was not there.

The next day, after checking the porch again and the back yard, I saw our next-door neighbor Megan, doing some gardening. I asked her if she had seen Matty. She responded that she hadn’t, but that two of our neighbors on the other side of the Mt Airy train station had spotted a mountain lion in their yard the previous night. “Great,” I thought to myself, as I pictured Matty being ripped to shreds.

Our four year old, Jesse, said to my wife that maybe Matty was a magic dog and that she went to the North Pole. We told him that it was possible, hoping it would bring him some comfort.

Finally on Wednesday, the first call came in. It was a young girl who told me that she had spotted Matty on Cresheim Valley Drive, right near the Allens Lane train station.

“Was it Cresheim Road, or Cresheim Valley Drive?” I asked.

“Cresheim Valley Drive, right near the train staion,” she repeated.

I thanked her and thought of how I had that feeling that she was near when I rode my bike in that area the night before. I drove over to Cresheim Road, figuring that the caller must have the streets mixed up. I asked some more people if they had seen her.

Two more calls came in from helpful people who just wanted to recommend that I check the Animal Rescue Shelter on Hunting Park Avenue and the SPCA. I called both and filed a missing dog report. They said that I should come down and look for myself to make sure she wasn’t there, and I did. The man who guided me through the shelter, said that a little white dog had just been turned in. I was excited as he led me to a cage, but it wasn’t Matty, just a little poodle shaking uncontrollably. I looked at all of the small dogs and was filled with such sadness for them, wishing I could help them. I left a flyer with them and headed to the SPCA in Plymouth Meeting. I walked through the adoption areas, passing two young couples, each trying to decide which dog to adopt. I imagined that Matty would be chosen immediately and felt a sense of jealousy over someone eying her up in a cage. She wasn’t there either and I left them a flyer as well.

Another call came in from a woman who also saw her Tuesday on Carpenter Lane, between Lincoln Drive and Cresheim Road. I drove back to that area, putting up more flyers and talked to a couple of young girls and their mother, who had not seen her but told me that they would keep their eyes out. All of a sudden the father came out, and he said he did see Matty on Tuesday near Carpenter and Mower and that she looked frightened and had run up a driveway. I thanked them and headed up the hill towards Cresheim Road again.

Another call came in and a woman said that she saw her at the corner of Cresheim Road and Carpenter Lane. She said that a woman circled the block a few times and put Matty in her car and drove off. She called her daughter on the phone, who also saw what happened. When I asked for a description, she said the woman was white and in her 30s. I showed her Matty’s picture again and asked if she was sure it was her, since she was just groomed, and the woman said she was absolutely sure it was her.

Today, we went to the SPCA on Erie Avenue and also to PACCA on Hunting Park Avenue again, with no luck. As each day goes by, our hopes are diminished more, and our sadness becomes numbing. Jesse said he hopes the woman who picked her up wasn’t an animal lover, like we are. He thinks that if she isn’t, she might return her.

If you know anyone who has recently come into possession of a white shi-tzu, that looks like it was recently groomed, please contact me at 215-275-6303 or email me at RMAC88@aol.com. We desperately want our little girl back home. Matty, we love you, and we miss you. Thanks for everyone’s help, support, prayers and advice.

Rich McIlhenny is a Mt. Airy resident and salesman for Re/Max Realtor Services, Inc.