WASHINGTON — An Army veteran is about to return home to Maryland after serving in the Middle East, but his beloved dog went missing while he was serving overseas. Now people in Anne Arundel County are on a mission to bring the pup home, too.
Before Army Specialist Jon Walker, 27, began his tour of duty in Afghanistan last year, he wrote a Facebook post about his 4-year-old German Shepherd, Zara: “Missing my girl so much tonight. I just hope she knows I’m coming home for her when this is over. Can’t live without her.”
Walker is coming back in August, but received devastating news that Zara went missing about two weeks ago in Crownsville, Maryland. Walker is on a Texas base, waiting to make the final trip home to Kent Island, according to ABC7.
His friend Heather Cappelli tells ABC7 that Zara was with a dog sitter on July 28 when she ran off into the woods and never returned.
“As [Walker’s] friends, it’s our responsibility to help find her because he can’t do it on his own until he gets back … The fact that he can’t be here and help is even more heart wrenching because we can only imagine how he feels,” Cappelli says. “He is devastated. He has quite a bond with her, just like anyone would have with their pet.”
Zara is wearing a pink collar. Friends are taking donations on Go Fund Me for a reward and there’s a Facebook page dedicated to the search.
As of Sunday morning, the friends have raised $1,125 of the $1,200 reward goal.
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