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Blind Vernon man loses special dog harness

Friends are reaching out on social media seeking community’s assistance
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A special harness used on a seeing eye dog has gone missing. It boasts a custom-made sign reading ‘DO NOT PET’. (Facebook)

A blind Vernon resident has lost an important item and now friends have taken to Facebook to seek the public’s help in locating it.

Vivian Unser turned to a Vernon community page to ask people if they’ve spotted a special harness her friend Roland Croteau uses for his seeing eye dog, Dodger.

Croteau had met a group of friends for lunch at Rosalinda’s on Thursday. After lunch, Croteau unharnessed his dog, like always, before getting into a vehicle. But he didn’t realize the harness fell out of the truck before closing the door.

Croteau retraced his steps, but couldn’t locate the harness. Unser continued the search; she said she checked in with Gateway and the Upper Room Mission and inquired with the police, but nothing has turned up yet.

“It is a black leather harness with a large red sign attached to the handle with white lettering saying, ‘DO NOT PET’,” Unser said in her post.

She said a smaller Lions Foundation logo can be spotted, as well.

Crouteau got the harness last spring in Oakville, Ont., while he was being paired with Dodger. There, the new match underwent three weeks of training.

Unser is asking for people to keep their eyes out for the harness. If it is located, it can be dropped off at the Vernon Morning Star, or contact 250-550-7923.

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@caitleerach
Caitlin.clow@vernonmorningstar.com

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