DOWNEY – A woman is frantically searching for the dog she says was like a sister to her.
Lulu, a 17-year-old shih tzu who is deaf and blind, has been missing since Jan. 26, when she wandered away from a back porch in Downey.
Nikki Pratchios, 45, is Lulu’s owner. She took responsibility for the dog after her mother died of lung cancer in October at the age of 71.
“I’ve been with her all these years, because she was my mom’s dog,” Pratchios said of the dog. “She’s just ancient now. She’s kind of homely, but I love her.”
Lulu lives with Pratchios in San Francisco, but the pair traveled to Downey last week to care for Pratchios’ aunt, who was recovering from a surgery related to breast cancer.
Pratchios had just given Lulu a bath and had not put her identification tags around her neck. A few minutes later, the dog was missing.
The gray and white shih tzu requires daily medication and weighs only about seven pounds. Pratchios said the dog is rarely out of her sight.
“She’s very fragile and I don’t go anywhere without her,” Pratchios said. “I take her to work. She’s always with me because she needs constant care.”
She said Lulu usually uses her sense of smell to find her way around the house and the places familiar to her. Pratchios is unsure of how the dog will fare in unfamiliar territory.
Capt. Aaron Reyes, director of operations for Southeast Area Animal Control Authority, said it is likely that Lulu is safe in the area.
“In our jurisdiction, it’s very common to find these types of lost animals,” Reyes said. “They end up at somebody’s house because someone sees them and feels sorry for them.”
Reyes said he has distributed information about Lulu to his staff and they keeping an eye out for her.
“I think Lulu is out there, wanting and waiting to be found,” Reyes said.
He said he would recommend that other pet owners do what they can to keep their pets safe by having them microchipped. Pets with the small chips implanted under the skin can be identified at any shelter with a scanner and returned to their families.
Microchippings costs $25 at SEACA’s Downey facility.
Pratchios posted fliers offering a $500 reward and hired bloodhounds to sniff out Lulu’s trail, but the dogs reached a dead end near her aunt’s home, at Charloma Drive and Brookshire Avenue.
Fliers are not permitted in Downey, she said, so she was required to pull them down the next day. But she has been calling local shelters, just in case Lulu turns up, and friends are handing out fliers at schools, veterinarians’ offices and at work.
“I’ve been in touch with a psychic, I’ve been in touch with many volunteers, I’m faxing all the vets in town.”
Pratchios said she hopes someone found Lulu and is caring for her, and that whoever has her will bring her home.
Although Pratchios had to go back to her job as a photographer in San Francisco, she plans to return to Downey over the weekend to continue her search.
“I can’t give up,” she said. “I love her too much.”
Those with tips about Lulu’s whereabouts can call Nikki Pratchios at (415) 948-5972.
(562) 698-0955, Ext. 3029