Oakley Family Reunited With Dog Injured In Fall From East Bay Overpass
BRENTWOOD (CBS SF) -- An Oakley family was reunited with their dog after it took a terrifying plunge off a state Highway 4 overpass in Brentwood on Saturday, Contra Costa County Animal Services officials said Friday.
Animal Services spokesman Steve Burdo said a 2-year-old Australian Shepherd named Bella suffered injuries that required expensive surgery during a fall from the highway's Sand Creek Road overpass.
Burdo said the incident was being investigated after it was reported that Bella may have been thrown from the overpass.
None of the witnesses have been able to verify those reports, however, so that investigation was dropped, Burdo said. If someone were to come forward with more information, the investigation could reopen.
Bella was transferred from an Antioch veterinarian clinic to the county's Animal Services department in Martinez on Monday, and then was returned to her owners on Wednesday.
Brian Mun, Bella's owner, said he was relieved.
"She jumped into my arms and started licking me," he said. "I was so happy."
"She was a Christmas present to me from my family two years ago, and she ran away on Christmas Eve this year," he said.
Mun said he left Bella at a Brentwood boarding facility a day earlier and received a call from the facility during the holidays saying that she was missing.
Mun, who has two children, said the news was devastating to his family.
Even worse was the news that came later -- that she had possibly been thrown off the overpass.
"That was a tough pill to swallow," Mun said. "We hope it's not true. I can't imagine someone would do that."
Mun expressed his immense gratitude for the bystanders who rushed Bella to help.
He said it's particularly a blessing that they're continuing to raise money to pay for the cost of fixing Bella's fractured femur and separated wrist bone. The cost is estimated to be about $12,000.
The woman who initially helped the dog created a GoFundMe account that has raised $6,585 for the surgery.
People are calling for the boarding facility to be held responsible and pay for the remaining costs of surgery on that GoFundMe page, which can be found at www.gofundme.com/8hh8z5fg.
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