TAFT, Calif. (KERO) — A Bakersfield man's service dog has been reunited with him after she went missing for three days when his car was stolen.
Brett Looney's ordeal began on Feb. 25 when he stopped at Lowe's Home Improvement on Coffee Road and returned to find his car gone.
"I was walking around all of the parking lot, thinking that I didn't remember where I was at, and my car was gone. Somebody stole my car with my trailer behind it and my dog, Stella," Looney said.
Looney printed out flyers in hopes that someone would recognize his service dog. That same Friday night, he received a call from police that changed everything.
"The police called me to say that my car had been recovered. And so I called the police officer back and he said that he had my car and he had my dog, Stella with him as well. And I my first response is, You're kidding. And I had to quickly correct myself, like, 'You're not kidding, are you?' It was a very exciting thing," Looney said.
Stella was found Friday night off Arlington Street in Bakersfield, still inside the car. Looney described the moment he was reunited with her.
"I didn't even know if I was in a dream at that moment. Like, honestly, I didn't know if I was breathing. It was just so exciting," Looney said.
"I put my hand out in front of her, and that's all it took. She smelled my hand. She started smelling around me. Her tails started wagging and she just jumped up in my arms. Yeah. Yeah," Looney said.
Looney says Stella was shaken up by the experience and is still adjusting at home.
"She's struggling a little bit with eating. Kind of ate a quarter of her food the other day, a quarter of food at night and then this morning, she ate half of her food," Looney said.
Despite the difficult experience, Looney says having Stella back has made a profound difference.
"When she wasn't there, like I I was very, very empty and lost and it was a a a different feeling, and it was, I didn't, I don't know. It was really hard. And now that she's back, like I, feel more confident about life and myself," Looney said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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