Scott Baker and his service dog Marley are reunited after a day-long search in Jacksonville, Florida.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Navy veteran is reunited with his service dog after an accident. Multi-day community-wide search in Jacksonville, Floridaone.
Scott Baker, a Navy veteran from Iowa, said he was “emotional” after finding his dog Mal’i, who ran away last weekend after a hit-and-run near Atlantic and Market avenues.
“I can’t thank the Jacksonville community enough,” Baker said.
Baker said he refused to leave Jacksonville without Marley, sparking an extensive search that quickly gained traction. Strangers share fliers, send tips and join the search for missing dogs.
“It was everyone’s combined effort and help that led to a happy ending,” Baker said.
Just after midnight Thursday, Baker received a text message from an anonymous tipster with a photo pointing him to a wooded area near Sutton Lake, just over a mile from where Mallee was last seen.
Baker started activating the beep signal with a remote control connected to Marley’s collar.
“I can hear it, and it makes me very happy because she’s here, she’s somewhere around here,” he said.
After a while, he spotted her.
“I shined my flashlight and saw her eyes, and at that moment I said, ‘There she is,'” Baker said. “She stood up and stuck her nose through the fence and she knew it was me.”
After a thorough veterinary examination, it was discovered that Marley had no broken bones and only minor injuries. Baker said she had some minor cuts and lacerations that may have been caused by the accident when she was hit.
Baker credits the Jacksonville community for making the reunion possible.
“In the Navy, we have a saying: ‘All hands on deck,'” he said. “It wasn’t just one person, it was a team, it was a community, it was a village that got us to this point and this success.”
