'Community's Effort' Helps Find Rocco The Dog In Port Washington

PORT WASHINGTON, NY — For 12 days, Rocco the dog evaded people searching for him in North Nassau, running in a five-mile radius, Teddy Henn of Long Island Lost Dog Search & Rescue. Rocco was on a walk with a volunteer from North Shore Animal League of America in Port Washington when he slipped away and ran off.

Rocco kept running, Henn said, and for over a week no one could catch him.

The Animal League reached out to Henn, who has been specializing in recovering missing dogs for years. Henn was able to track Rocco's location with the help of residents in Port Washington, Manhasset and Roslyn, who phoned in sightings and also allowed Henn to set up humane traps on their property.

On Monday, Henn, with the assistance of Charmaine Derosa and Lynn Fodale, was able to safely trap and return Rocco to the shelter.

"After 12 days he was starving," he said. "Every time someone spotted him by the time I got there he vanished."

Henn helps find dogs all over Nassau and Suffolk. His work is a labor of love, he said, and he's constantly receiving calls for help. He estimates he has found 400 dogs over the years, some missing for as long as months or even a year. His own dog completed a 14-month training program to become a tracking dog, to help follow the missing pets' scents.

Finding Rocco was " a community's effort," Henn said.

"He was a runner. You can't chase a dog like that. You have to keep going, keep looking and stay dedicated."