Catherine DeFazio followed the dog after spotting it walking alone in a residential area
German shepherd Jake showed how loyal dogs can be.
On Monday, Catherine DeFazio of Sacramento, Calif., told KRCA that she followed the dog after repeatedly seeing it walking alone near her property. After a short time, the dog led her into a nearby forest and directly to the body of a man believed to be Jake’s owner.
“He ran over there along the street … and he went over there into the bushes about three feet from the boardwalk. I can’t believe it,” DeFazio told KRCA.
“So he walked into this and looked up. And he roared, and he just, like, looked me in the eyes like that… I looked, and I said, there’s no way there’s a dead body. So I walked here and there he was.”
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DeFazio quickly realized that the man was the owner of the dog. “I started putting 2 and 2 together. I knew I had never seen that dog before and I realized it was his,” she continued. “… When you’re lonely outside or you’re alone, an animal is everything to you.”
DeFazio called the police as soon as she found the body. According to the coroner’s examination, according to KRCA, the man had been dead for more than a week at the time of his discovery.
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PEOPLE has reached out to the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office for further comment.
The deceased was found to have been dead for more than a week.
KCRA 3/Youtube
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DeFazio searched for the German shepherd for the next two weeks while trying to find a shelter for the dog. “I supported myself in dark clothes in the bushes and literally with flashlights. And I’m like, I can do that. If anyone can do it, so can I,” she said.
Nicole Hartman, who works with a local dog rescue, and another woman named Claudia Cardoza then joined DeFazio in helping to get the grieving pooch to safety.
“Jake is in a temporary foster home while we look for a 501c Rescue that can help Jake get to the point of adoption,” Hartman posted on Facebook on Dec. 31. with details on catching the dog.
“You can see in his eyes how confused and lost he feels,” Cardoza added in a separate Facebook post. “He wouldn’t survive a shelter and he doesn’t deserve to be let down again. Please, this boy needs fostering and rescue.”
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Source: HIS Education