Hollister
– If the Boy Scouts of America offered an
”
Animal Rescue
”
badge, Matthew Brill could be sewing his on right now.
Hollister – If the Boy Scouts of America offered an “Animal Rescue” badge, Matthew Brill could be sewing his on right now.
On the way to a Cub Scout meeting May 10, Matthew’s mother, Kelly Brill, was changing CDs in her convertible Volkswagen Beetle at a stoplight in front of McDonald’s on Airline Highway.
The 9-year-old Hollister boy heard a whimper.
When he looked toward the curb, Matthew spotted a dog trapped in a storm drain.
The 9-year-old shepherd-catahoula, which belongs to Hollister resident Christine Nelson, had been missing for two days.
Hollister Fire Department firefighters lifted the heavy storm drain with a crowbar, and Nelson, 26, was reunited with her pet, Bosco.
Kelly Brill called Vivian Kennedy, president of a nonprofit animal rescue agency called All Creatures Great & Small Inc. Kennedy contacted Hollister’s animal shelter, which had been receiving several calls a day from the worried Nelson.
Anna Patterson, who works for the animal shelter, called Nelson with the good news Thursday night.
“Which is a miracle because I never would have found him,” Nelson said.
Matthew, a fourth-grade student at Cerra Vista Elementary School, said his scout meeting could wait.
“I was relieved too, because they can put dogs down if they don’t know their owner,” Matthew said.
Kennedy said the Brills have adopted pets from her organization in the past.
If it wasn’t for Matthew’s keen eye and ears, Bosco may not have been rescued, Kennedy said.
“To me he’s a little 9-year-old hero,” she said.
Kelly Brill said everything fell into place to find Bosco.
With the top down and a break in music, Matthew was able to hear the dog’s call for help, his mother said.
“We just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” she said.
Nelson last saw Bosco the evening of May 8. With no sign of the dog that Thursday morning, Nelson began mulling her options to find the unique-looking mutt.
“I was going to put up ‘lost’ signs in case someone had him in their back yard, but how do I explain him?” Nelson said.
Luckily, Bosco hadn’t made it too far.
The McDonald’s near where Bosco was found is just around the corner from Nelson’s residence.
No one is quite sure how Bosco found his way into the storm drain, but most agree that the rescue came just in time.
“I just don’t know how long that dog would have been there if no one had seen it,” Kelly Brill said.
Michael Van Cassell covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 335 or [email protected].
