Registered therapy dog found wandering streets of Cleveland

CLEVELAND - A local animal lover is trying to figure out how a registered therapy dog ended up alone and roaming the streets of Cleveland.

Jennifer Coakley named the dog “Foxy Lady,” because she resembles a fox.  She spotted her on her way home from work late Wednesday afternoon on Carnegie Avenue and chased her for about 16 blocks until she caught her at East 89th Street and Cedar Avenue.

"She had a yellow big tag on that said 'I am a therapy dog' so that made me feel like she's loved by somebody," Coakley said. "Somebody's missing her. Somebody took good care of her." However, when Coakley called the phone number on the dog's therapy tag, she was unable to find any helpful information.

"They only keep photos of dogs from the current year," she said. "So they only have photos of dogs from 2012 and her tag said 2008."

Wickliffe veterinarian Dr. William Mandel estimates Foxy Lady's age to be somewhere in the teens.

"She's had her Bat Mitzvah already," he said. Mandel said the dog is also in a lot of pain, probably because of her age, which accounts for the constant shaking in her hind legs.

Like Coakley, Mandel is at a loss to explain why the therapy dog was roaming the streets.

"Who knows? Maybe someone's on vacation. Maybe someone's sick and the dog got out. Or maybe someone was watching the dog and it got loose," he said.

Coakley has rescued three dogs so far this year and five last year, including Chester, who was abandoned in a trash can on Chester Avenue. She hopes to find Foxy Lady's owner or someone willing to adopt her.

Email 5tips@newsnet5.com if you have any information and we will forward it to Coakley.