Superstorm Sandy wreaked havoc across the Northeast Coast causing catastrophic destruction along the Jersey Shore, Long Island and New York City. More than 100 Americans perished in the devastating weather event.
Homes were destroyed. Roads were ripped up. Cars floated away. Boats washed ashore and crashed into houses.
The storm sparked fires and widespread flooding. The damage was unimaginable.
Even more heartbreaking than watching your home fall apart around you with nothing you can do to stop it is losing your beloved pet in such a nasty storm.
Chuck and Elicia James, along with their children Alexandra, Kelsey and Liam, were living in Keansburg at the time when Superstorm Sandy hit their home. The storm also mangled their fence, which allowed their brown-and-white terrier-pitbull mix to get loose and run off.
“We had a collar on the dog, but it got caught on the fence and came off.”
Crushed, the family searched for Reckless for months. They never found him. Finally, they gave up.
“We reported him missing and called the shelters periodically, just hoping they had him. We always kept our hopes up, but eventually, it’s time to move on.”
It took 18 months for them to get over the hurt of losing Reckless. When they decided they finally were ready to bring another four-legged family member into the fold, they visited the Monmouth County SPCA.
As soon as they walked through the double doors into the canine viewing area, they approached a cage and were instantly struck by the realization that the dog before them named Lucas looked crazily like Reckless.
With apprehension, they discovered that the dog at the shelter really truly was their buddy.
After all these years, they found him! And they found him when they were finally over losing him and ready to adopt!
“He was a little heavier and it’s been a little while, but then my wife saw the scar on his head and immediately we start tearing up. We found our dog. Then he was laying on my wife’s feet, and I knew it was him…I was in disbelief. I know this dog is meant to be with our family.”
Lucas a.k.a. Reckless jumped in the air with joy upon immediately recognizing that this was his family.
“And then the tears came — there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”
They showed the adoption specialist assisting them pictures of the family with the dog to prove the dog in the shelter kennel really was theirs, and they were able to take Reckless back home with them.
“We were all ecstatic and he made it clear that he was home and we were home.”
Their kids were over the moon thrilled that their sweet boy was home again.
“This whole thing has been an amazing experience.”
In order to officially take Reckless home, they had to adopt him, but the family was perfectly fine with that.
“They took care of the dog, microchipped him, he saw vets regularly and they sheltered him.”
Liz Wise, development and marketing director at the Monmouth County SPCA, said this type of reunion is virtually unheard of.
“It’s not very often we’re able to reunite them with their owners in the way that this happened. It also shows the importance of microchipping your pets, because had he been microchipped, we would’ve been able to reunite him with his family sooner.”
Apparently Reckless was found as a stray a year after the storm.
“It’s a wonderful story and a very happy ending for the family. It’s something that really warmed our hearts.”
Chuck said the family was thrilled to have him back in their home. He also said it was fate that the shelter didn’t euthanize him while waiting for him to be adopted.
Sparing his life – for whatever reason – gave the family time to miraculously stumble upon their long lost favorite dog. Thank goodness this dog tale had a happy ending!
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