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| Leska |
Hoboken: An entire community of 55,000 came together this week in search of a collie named "Leska." The search even extended to social media where former ESPN broadcaster and well known dog lover Keith Obermann lent a hand with a tweet.
Leska, a nine-month-old brown and white collie, and her owner were near the Hudson Bergen Light Rail Station at 2nd Street and Jackson Street at approximately 7:00 p.m on Tuesday February 23rd. Leska, frightened by a train horn, escaped from her owner’s grip and ran up the tracks in a northbound direction.
The good news is that Leska was recently found and is safely back home. For the full details of how Leska was found and returned, please see the social media posts by the person who found Leska-- it is a heart warming story by an educator in the city and a well known advocate for animals and animal rights. I have removed the name for sake of privacy but the post is from Facebook.
FACEBOOK POST FROM FEBRUARY 26, 2021 (below)
). As I call Montauk’s name, I see what I thought was a dog running up the cliff, through the brush. I did a double take and I instantly knew it was “that lost dog I briefly saw a FB post on” desperately making her way to me. I dropped the cat food and aloud repeated OMG OMG OMG, I have to get her. As she untangled herself from the final leafless, branchy knot, I softly encouraged her to come to me. Timid, but with a wagging tail, her nose met my cat food filled palm. My mind raced in crafting a plan to get her into my car. I hopped back over the wall, luring her with kibble until she put her two front paws up on the wall. I leaned over, scruffed her with my left hand, wrapped my right arm around her body, and lifted her up into my chest. So much for thinking I would keep my brand new North Face coat bright white & dirty free (sorry 
) Nah, I’m not gonna wait for someone to stop...this is an emergency!! So I do my usual one leg at a time maneuver over the railing, this time with no hands, and just go! It didn’t take but a second for horns to start screamin & hollerin but I so didn’t care. (Usually it’s my legs flailing & bum in the air that unintentionally solicit the hoopla and horns blowin lol). I opened my car door and placed Leska inside, gave her a smooch and safely closed her in. After running back to my girls to pick up their dirty bowls, I returned to my car, frantically searching FB for the post on this lost dog. By the time I returned to Hoboken to buy dog food, you all replied to my call for help with Will’s number. He was out of breath when he answered his phone. He explained he’d been running toward Paterson Plank to find me bc he got a call saying a woman was spotted crossing the road, holding a dog that looked like Leska. I asked where he was and told him I’d be right there. As I approached the corner of Palisades and Congress, I see a family of 4 excitedly jumping & waving their arms. There are 2 girls 
Before I could even get my mask on, Stephanie embraced me. She and her daughters were crying with joy and gratitude. I let them in the back seat of my car where they sat with Leska for good half hour. I tell ya, it was a whirlwind. And poor Will, good ole dad, exhausted after searching high and low, all hours of the day and night for his girls’ pup. Watching the 5 of them walk into their building after I dropped them back home was the absolute best end to what was a long, emotionally charged work day. No better reward!
