Missing dog reunited with family

Heather Massey thanked the outpouring of support from the community for Coco’s safe return.

Coco is home.

The senior Shih Tzu whose disappearance last week prompted an outpouring of support across the Mon Valley was reunited with her family Tuesday after a local delivery driver recognized the dog from a story in the Mon Valley Independent and social media posts.

Heather Massey said a driver found Coco after she disappeared Thursday evening from the family’s home near the intersection of McKean Avenue and 13th Street in Donora while making deliveries.

The driver cared for Coco while trying to locate her owner online before ultimately connecting with the family.

“I got a couple of calls, but when they sent me a picture I saw the underbite and knew that was my baby,” Massey said.

The reunion brought a happy ending after several anxious days for Massey and her family, who had been especially concerned because Coco requires daily medication.

Massey credited the community’s overwhelming response for helping bring Coco home.

“It is absolutely amazing how this community rallied together,” Massey said. “That article did exactly what it was meant to do, caught the family’s eye, and brought our sweet girl home. It is nothing short of a miracle.”

She also expressed gratitude that the family who had Coco treated the senior dog with kindness while searching for her owner.

“It is also so wonderful to hear that the family who had her was so kind to her while she was away,” Massey wrote. “She is officially home and so happy to be back with her best friend Hershey.”

Massey thanked everyone who shared Coco’s story, searched for her and kept watch over the past several days.

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who shared, searched and kept an eye out,” she wrote. “We are so incredibly grateful.”