Everyone’s dog: Pup rescued after being tossed from truck dies after long, happy life
Courtesy of Cathy Vrabel
Frankie in his final photo with adoptive family, Cathy and John Vrabel of Uniontown.
Frankie, a Lab-mix dog rescued after being thrown from a moving vehicle as a puppy, has died. His owners, Cathy and John Vrabel of Uniontown, said he was a gentle guy who loved everyone, and lived a good life.
Frankie in his first family portrait with his adopted family, Cathy and John Vrabel of Uniontown
Frankie, a Lab-mix, was adopted by a Uniontown couple after he was put in a fast-food bag and thrown out of a moving vehicle in the mountains of Fayette County in 2013.
Courtesy of Cathy Vrabel
When Frankie was a pup of about 2 months old, he was put into a fast-food bag and thrown from a moving vehicle in the mountains of Fayette County. His 2013 story attracted attention from television stations and newspapers, leading to a number of strangers-turned-friends keeping up on his life through his adoptive family, John and Cathy Vrabel of Uniontown.
Frankie
In a way, Frankie, the Lab-mix puppy tossed from a moving truck in the mountains of Fayette County, was everyone’s dog.
Found at maybe 2 months old in 2013, the golden-colored pup captured hearts throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania as he journeyed back to health in the loving care of his adoptive fur-parents in Uniontown. His story was featured on TV and in newspapers, prompting an outpouring of love and support that spanned his life.
“We still got letters, cards, emails, texts from people all over,” said Cathy Vrabel, who adopted Frankie with her husband, John. “People in Monongahela, McKees Rocks, they knew him, loved him, asked about him and sent him toys (over the years).”
She said Frankie brought light and love to their home during the 8½ years he spent with them, until Saturday, July 2, when congestive heart failure took his life.
Vrabel, a volunteer at Fayette Friends of Animals, was attending a board meeting at the shelter in 2013 when they received a call from a woman who told them she watched someone toss a fast-food bag from a moving truck onto her lawn. Irritated someone had littered, she went out to retrieve the bag.
Inside, she found a whimpering, crying dog.
Vrabel said folks from the shelter immediately went to get the pup. She and her husband decided to pay Frankie’s veterinary bills, as he had two broken shoulders and his urethra had been ripped from his bladder.
They fostered Frankie at their home during his recovery, intending fully that he would be adopted by someone else.
Life, however, had other plans.
The man set to adopt Frankie changed his mind, and the dog who was rescued in the truest sense, became a permanent part of the Vrabel’s household.
He landed in the right home to recover and thrive, Vrabel said.
“He was our life and we were his,” she said. “There was unconditional love.”
Frankie was part Lab, but what other dog he was mixed with was a mystery, Vrabel said.
“I always say it was a donkey,” she laughed. “He was so big. At his healthiest, he was 140 pounds.”
And Frankie didn’t let his rocky start in life curtail his love for people.
“He loved everybody. He had a vicious bark, but his tail was always wagging,” Vrabel noted. “He was just sweet. He was a sweet boy, and smart and amazing.”
On Christmas Day, Frankie was coughing a lot, so they took him to get checked out and learned he was in congestive heart failure.
A cardiac vet nixed the walks and roughhousing with other dogs that Frankie enjoyed because it was too rough on his failing heart. A couple of weeks ago, walking upstairs to go to bed with his humans was no longer possible, so the Vrabels brought a mattress downstairs for him to sleep on.
On July 2, Cathy was at work at WVU Medicine Uniontown Hospital when her husband called and asked her to come home. When she arrived, Frankie was standing in the corner, staring at the wall.
They took him to an emergency vet and learned he’d had a heart attack. A short time later, he took a deep breath and died.
“It was his time. I didn’t want him to suffer,” Vrabel said.
As the Vrabels adjust to life without their special four-legged friend, Cathy said she finds comfort in the love Frankie received throughout his years from strangers who heard his story and kept up with him during his happy life.
“He was so special to so many people. That just warms our hearts,” she said. “It’s bittersweet, but we know he’s with us. We know he’s here.”