Rather than advertising a yard sale or car wash, this compassionate guy spent his Saturday holding up a sign for a lost dog he found running in and out of traffic.
40-year-old Jason Gasparik first spotted Roxy the chocolate Labrador when he was driving back to his home in Charlotte, North Carolina the night before. Due to the dog’s frantic state, it took Gasparik and several other good Samaritans an entire hour to calm her down enough to get her into his car.
He then brought the pup back to his home and posted photos of her to several social media outlets and community websites for lost pets. He even took her to a 24-hour veterinary office to see if she was microchipped – but all to no avail.
When all of this failed to find Roxy’s owner, Gasparik did the only other thing he could think to do: he grabbed a piece of cardboard, a magic marker, and made a sign.
“Saturday morning I was sitting there with her thinking ‘what else could I do?’” Gasparik told PEOPLE. “So like a total dork, I made my sign and went to stand out on the sidewalk with her.”
For three hours, Gasparik stood on the corner of a local intersection with a sign reading “Do you know this lost dog????” followed by several arrows pointing to the happy hound.
Not all heroes wear capes. ????????????This man is standing on the street in Ballantyne looking for this lost dog’s owner. @wcnc
Pup was found on Ballantyne Commons Pkwy(Photo: Eben Patten) pic.twitter.com/LCW9JPTlCL
— Meilin Tompkins (@meilintompkins) March 3, 2019
Over the course of his vigil, Gasparik said he received a lot of attention from passing drivers – but when a photographer snapped a photo of him with the sign and posted it to social media, his phone became flooded with messages.
Meanwhile, a man named Ed was anxiously driving across town with the windows down, calling Roxy’s name in hopes she was nearby. Because of his back problems, Ed can’t walk very well. After Roxy had gone missing from his home on Thursday, he was forced to search for her from the driver’s seat of his car.
But as fate would have it, Ed saw a woman walking her dog on the sidewalk and he asked her if she had seen Roxy.
The woman had, in fact, seen Gasparik’s social media posts, which led her to pull up a picture of Roxy and confirm that Ed was the owner. She then sent a message to Gasparik saying that she had found Roxy’s rightful companion.
UPDATE! Jason says he has reunited the dog ( Roxy) with her owner!!! ❤️ https://t.co/MWHDjbxuDl
— Meilin Tompkins (@meilintompkins) March 3, 2019
Gasparik later met with Ed in a parking lot, and Roxy was delighted to be reunited with her human.
“As soon as Roxy saw him, her ears perked up and she ran to him and he had all the paperwork to show that he was the owner,” said Gasparick. “And of course he had tons of pictures of her on his cellphone.”
Though Gasparick managed to complete his rescue mission, he says that he plans on staying in contact with Ed so he can volunteer to walk Roxy in lieu of the senior’s back problems.
Gasparick also mentioned that his social media photo has prompted a slew of women to ask him out on dates – but as of right now, he says he plans on waiting for the media frenzy around Roxy to die down before he considers getting involved with another girl.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Feature photos by Jason Gasparik
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