Recordpub.com - Suffield family looking for dog after fire

By Deborah Guziak

Record-Courier staff writer

SUFFIELD -- Maggie is missing.

The sheltie was pushed out of the house to safety Saturday by an owner because the house was on fire.

She hasn't been seen since then.

"She's my mom's dog, and I think it would help my mom feel better if she was found," said Alysha Oaks.

Meanwhile, Clyde, the cat, who was missing after escaping the fire, has been found. Unfortunately, Seymour the cat and two birds succumbed in the fire, while the family's four dogs and Clyde escaped.

It was Saturday when fire broke out in the garage of a home belonging to Rick and Jayelen Oaks. The Galaxy Drive couple recently had returned home and was inside the house when a neighbor pounded on their door.

"He told them the house was on fire," Oaks said. "They didn't even know it."

Oaks was at her sister's home a couple of streets away celebrating her college graduation when she saw smoke in the distance.

"I thought, 'that's a lot of smoke,' and then I heard an explosion and knew it was my house," she said.

Meanwhile, the Oaks got a family member and a foster child out of the house to safety. Rick Oaks got the dogs out of the house, but had to push Maggie out of the house.

"She's scared of fireworks and probably was scared of the fire," Alysha Oaks said. "She's out there somewhere scared to death."

Maggie has a sable-colored coat and is in full coat. She weighs 15 to 18 pounds and has one ear up and one ear down. She isn't wearing a collar.

Clyde, a black and white cat, was found under the deck of neighbors Terri and Chuck Dick.

"(Terri) was drinking coffee on the deck, and heard little meow cries," Alysha Oaks said. "They looked under the deck and saw him."

The Dicks contacted the family with the good news, and soon Chuck Dick was tearing up his deck with a crowbar to get to the frightened cat.

"We didn't even know if he had gotten out (of the fire)," Alysha Oaks said.

The family is offering a reward for Maggie's return. If you have any information about her, call 330-606-6875; 330-414-9297 or 330-618-0273.