Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Zander Frost, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sandra Miranda spent Fourth of July Weekend in Glens Falls away from her family in Pittsburgh searching for their lost dog, Alfie.
A year-old Australian Shepherd weighing around 10 pounds, Alfie was lost on Wednesday, June 22, while at day-care at GF-K9 on Warren Street in Glens Falls.
It’s believed Alfie was seen on Monday, July 4, close to the railroad tracks near Shermantown Road, a few blocks east of GF-K9.
“He just turned a year this past Wednesday,” Ms. Miranda tearfully told The Chronicle on Sunday, July 3. “We couldn’t even celebrate his birthday….
“This weekend…I couldn’t even sleep just thinking, this is his first Fourth of July, and he’s out there. I don’t know where…with the fireworks, terrified.”
Ms. Miranda said, “You’re making sure all the time that your pets are completely safe. And to know that now he’s in this situation because I brought him in there, it just breaks my heart.”
Their 3-day vacation
The family — Ms. Miranda, her husband Michael Catarisano and their teenage children children Natalia and Joseph — came to Lake George for a three-day vacation that has turned into a nightmare.
She said they boarded Alfie for a day because they wanted to go on a Lake George Steamboat ride and visit Fort William Henry.
“And they don’t allow pets,” Ms. Miranda said.
They left Alfie at GF-K9 to “concentrate a little, like for three hours, on family time…and hell nightmare since then.”
Ms. Miranda said, “We were like let’s find a place to take care of the dog.” Ms. Miranda said when she returned to GF-K9 to pick Alfie up, “they told me ‘we have bad news’. I thought they were going to tell me another dog attacked my dog, something like that. I never imagined in my life that they were going to say the dog is gone,” she said.
Kennel owner: ‘I’m beside myself’
GF-K9 Owner Mike Tartaglione told The Chronicle on Monday that he checked the video footage but is unable to determine how Alfie escaped.
“It was like he was teleported 50, 60 feet into the parking lot.” he said.
“I feel terrible. I haven’t slept. I’m beside myself,” Mr. Tartaglione said. He said he has helped with the search.
Ms. Miranda said right now, she wants to focus her energy on finding Alfie, not on GF-K9.
She said Mr. Tartaglione has “been helping, but to be honest, it’s just really hard to be working with him. Because it’s a reminder — you lost my dog.”
Continuing to search for Alfie, Ms. Miranda and her mother extended their stay for more than a week, while her children and husband returned to Pittsburgh as Mr. Catarisano went back to work.
On July 4, Ms. Miranda returned to Pittsburgh. Mr. Catarisano returned to Glens Falls to continue the search.
“Now my husband will be here, so he’s not going to be with us for almost another week,” Ms. Miranda said. “We both work.
“After that we both have to go back.”
Gratitude toward the community
Ms. Miranda said a “core group” of around 11 local people have been assisting her with the search, plus Josh Grassi of Clifton Park Pet Search is volunteering.
“The community has been absolutely amazing. I just am really, really, very grateful and appreciate it,”
Ms. Miranda said, “We have been paying hotel [and]…gas….The community has been amazing, making sure that I’m eating…I’m here. I haven’t seen my kids in almost a week.”
“This is the worst feeling ever,” Ms. Miranda said. “I don’t want anybody ever going through what I’m going through…especially when you’re trusting someone to take care of your dog. That should never happen.”
Ms. Miranda repeatedly emphasized her gratitude to local people helping
“The community has been absolutely amazing. I just am really, really, very grateful and appreciate it….overwhelming with all the good energy and all the good thoughts.”
She also emphasized that volunteers should not go on Lehigh Cement property. She says the company has been helpful in the process already.
Ms Miranda believes they’ll find Alfie.
“I’m just trusting God in the process,” she said.
If you see the missing dog ‘Alfie’
If you see the missing year-old Australian Shepherd…
• Do not call his name, owner Sandra Miranda said.
• Please phone Ms. Miranda at 315-382-4440 or her husband Michael at 315-663-6598.
Alfie was lost on Warren Street in Glens Falls when he was in day care at GF-K9.
The dog has been sighted to the east, in the fields and area surrounding Lehigh Cement in Glens Falls and, in Hudson Falls, near the Wheelabrator trash-burning plant.
The most recent sighting was thought to be on Monday, July 4, near Shermantown Road in Glens Falls.
Ms. Miranda asked anyone helping should not to go on the Lehigh property or the train tracks.
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