No good deed goes unpunished, and a Brooklyn firehouse is learning that lesson the hard way.
Members of the firehouse thought they returned a runaway dog to its rightful owner, but a heartbroken family says that their lost pet has ended up in the wrong hands — and is still hoping find their beloved dog.
Natasha Gaynor said that Rocky, the 5-month-old mini Australian shepherd that belongs to her and her daughters, ran away when her boyfriend was taking out the garbage on Monday. She said that a Good Samaritan took the pup to a fire station.
The local firehouse, Engine 227, put up a Citizen app video in an effort to track the owners down. Someone soon claimed the dog — but it wasn't the Gaynor family.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
"They said a lady came and claimed the dog. They couldn't identify her, where she was, who she is," Gaynor said.
She said that the family has the dog tags and the license, and went to the firehouse prepared with the proof that Rocky, who is also microchipped, is theirs. But Rocky was gone.
No one answered at the firehouse when NBC New York sought comment.
News
Since being given to the wrong person, the pup has remained missing. The family only able to watch home videos of their beloved pooch, as his crate sits empty in their Brownsville apartment.
The family is offering a reward to get Rocky back, in order to make their home feel complete and make the Gaynor's daughters happy again.
"He would play with me, he would fake bite me, he would do a whole bunch of stuff that made me happy," said 8-year-old Jayanna Gaynor, who said she thinks about her lost dog every day.
"He loves to play around, I like to play around with him," said her 9-year-old sister, Jaeda. "I feel bad, my sister really loves him."
