Fayth, Hope and Charity--and Reunion

A tragic story ended happily Tuesday when a Garden Grove woman was reunited with her beloved dog, Fayth, who was lost in the aftermath of a freeway wreck.

“She’s my baby girl,” said Traci Hastings, as she tugged on a pull toy with the dog, a barrel-shaped mix of cocker spaniel and Great Dane with mismatched eyes--one blue, one brown. “I just had to believe she was still alive.”

Fayth had been missing for a week since she ran off after Hastings’ car was involved in an accident on the Hollywood Freeway near downtown Los Angeles. The dog was found by a good Samaritan who noticed a terrified mutt cowering in the bushes in a neighborhood near the thoroughfare.

“I thought somebody had dumped her, and it broke my heart,” Patricia Daugherty said. “I tried to approach her, but she was so scared I couldn’t get close. So I put out a bowl of food, talked to her for a while and waited.”

After five days of coaxing, the dog allowed Daugherty to slip on a leash and take her to a nearby animal shelter.

Meanwhile, Hastings, after a brief hospital stay for minor injuries, set out to find her canine companion of two years.

When a friend told her Caltrans workers had found the body of a similar-looking dog in the vicinity, Hastings refused to believe it was Fayth. She posted dozens of bright-colored fliers describing the missing mutt with distinctive eyes.

Daugherty saw one of those posters as she drove home from the shelter after dropping off Fayth. “I literally slammed on the brakes when I saw it,” she said. “I knew that had to be the dog.”

Through Daugherty, Hastings was put in touch with the shelter. After a few quick questions, she knew Fayth was alive.

Tuesday morning came the proof. At 8 a.m., Hastings and Fayth were reunited at the Los Angeles City Shelter.

“She was so happy, she started shaking and running around in circles,” Hastings recalled later. “And I started crying. I couldn’t help it.”

Hastings slipped a collar, with identification tags, on Fayth’s neck. Hastings said she usually made Fayth wear the collar, although it seemed to irritate her. But on the day of the accident, she assumed the dog would be safe inside her car for the drive home.

“That collar’s never coming off now,” Hastings said.

Daugherty said there’s another lesson to be learned from the story. “If you’ve lost your pet, keep checking the shelters. Check every two days. Don’t let your animal get lost in the system. And don’t give up.”