By Leigh Ann Rutledge
Accent Editor
May 6, 2008

Beverly and Oscar and their dog Penny.

It sounds like an episode of "Law & Order" - a couple in turmoil, a loved one missing and presumed dead, a happy reunion.

This story wasn't fiction nor was it solved in an hour.  The couple is Beverly and Oscar Trbovich and their lost and found loved one is their beloved Australian Shepherd, Penny.

April 5 started out like any normal day.  Oscar went to his son Danny's farm located on Waynesburg Rd. to get the skid loader and Penny accompanied him.  Penny, now six months old, is a constant around the farm, riding in the truck, on the tractor and on the skid loader with Oscar.  As Oscar was headed toward the skid loader, a cat ran out of the barn and Penny took after it and went across the road.  When Oscar finished he went to look for Penny. 

The family searched for Penny for three days.  Beverly said, "We were going nuts, fearing the worst because we could not find any trace of her.  We were heartbroken because we didn't know if she was lying injured somewhere."  They kept hoping and praying something would turn up even if it was bad news.  "We wanted to bury her, if she was gone, but we couldn't find her body.  We kept asking ‘Where is she?'" continued Beverly.  Farmer, the couple's 10-year-old dog, was also affected by Penny's disappearance.  "I feed the dogs in the garage.  Farmer would not eat while Penny was missing.  He wouldn't even go in the garage," said Oscar.

The couple's daughter, Kathy Pontones said, "Dad called the vets in the area on the chance one of them had Penny.  He left a message for Doc Walters but for some reason Doc never got the message."  When Beverly sent a check to Dr. John Walters, their veterinarian, she included a note for Doc to cancel Penny's record since she was "lost and assumed dead."

Chad Rector, 19, son of Wade and Robin Rector of Steubenville Rd., Carrollton, was traveling on SR 171 on his way to Akron when he saw Penny lying on the road.  He went past her then turned around and came back to her.  Realizing she was still alive, he took her to a home to see if she was their dog.  Unable to find her owner, he drove almost 15 miles back to his home.  He and his dad then took her to Dr. Walters.  What made Chad do this unselfish act?  "I had a feeling she was still alive when I turned around.  If she was my dog, I would want someone to pick her up and get her help," said Rector.

Luck was with Penny that afternoon.  Dr. John Walters, DVM, is not normally in the office on a Saturday afternoon.  He came in to check on another animal when Penny arrived.  Chad, covered in blood, brought Penny in telling Doc he found her near New Harrisburg.

Dr. Walters said, "I cleaned her up and found she had no broken bones.  She had a fractured skull and her eye was swollen shut.  When I came in around midnight to check on her, I thought she was gone because of the way she was lying in the crate."  After checking her, he treated her again and by Sunday she was looking a little better.  She began to eat a little Monday. While his first priority was to get the dog well, Doc went to Chad's home to try to get an actual location so he could reunite the dog with its owner.  Chad told Doc near Muckley's Orchard.  He said he decided he would check with Danny Trbovich after the dog was better to see if he knew anyone in the area who might own the dog.

The mail arrived with the check and note from Beverly Trbovich and everything just clicked.  "I hadn't thought of them at first since they live further down the road.  I didn't realize Oscar took the dog with him to the farm," stated Walters.

Shocked isn't the only word to describe what the Trbovich's felt when they received a call from Dr. Walters.  "I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  I was skeptical, afraid it was another dog since Dr. Walters hadn't seen Penny for awhile," said Beverly.

"We walked in and it was our Penny.  We called to her and she knew us."

"Chad is a saint.  We just thank him a thousand times over," expressed Pontones.  "How many kids would do what he did?  Turn around and go back home with the dog."  Penny is getting more spunk every day and her eye is healing.  The accident has changed her, though.  She isn't as hyper as she was before.  Beverly is an animal lover but always wanted them to be outside.  "I'm not sure why I am so attached to this dog but I am.  Our kids are grown and she is our baby," she states.  Penny is very much a puppy and they are planning to install invisible fence around their yard to keep her safe. 

"We are forever grateful for these two wonderful, caring people," stated the couple.  Oscar and Beverly watch Penny play with her toys while stretched out on the kitchen floor.  "There are still good people in Carroll County," Oscar smiles and says with a catch in his voice.