Nancy Zolman was on vacation Sept. 12 when her Shih Tzu went missing. Zolman, Winona Lake, said she had boarded the 11-month-old dog, named Rudy, at Animal Medical Center, West Winona Avenue, Warsaw. A spokesperson for the center said during a telephone interview this morning that the dog was on a leash. Rudy is Zolman’s second dog and has been fixed. She also has another Shih Tzu. “They took him out for a routine potty break over by Marsh Supermarket parking lot and said they had lost him,” Zolman said. “I got a phone call when I was on vacation in Florida that he was missing, and I couldn’t believe it and I was devastated.” Rudy has black fur with a white chest and a red collar. There is not identification on the collar as he chewed on the tag. “He’s our hairy little child,” Zolman said. She got the dog from a family on Chapman Lake last November around Thanksgiving after seeing him advertised in the Times-Union. There is a $1,500 cash reward for finding the dog, and a missing dog ad was published in the Times-Union four days after he went missing. Zolman said she has put up fliers around town. She said her missing dog is like having a lost child. “I can’t imagine what parents go through when they have a lost child,” Zolman said. If the dog is found, call 574-377-9741 or 574-527-6194.
