Green Brook Store Owner Helps Sick Boy Scammed Out Of A Puppy

GREEN BROOK, NJ — Green Brook Shake A Paw owner brought smiles to a terminally ill boy after his mom was scammed out of buying a puppy for him.

Leart Dervishaj, 6, of Little Ferry has been hospitalized for the past five weeks in Hackensack with a rare, incurable form of dwarfism. He only has a few years left to live due to kidney failure and seizures. He is scheduled to have his kidney removed on Friday.

His wish was to have a puppy as his kindergarten graduation gift since he was unable to attend. His mom, Rezarta Osmani, saved every penny they had to buy a teacup Yorkie from a Facebook seller for more than $1,400.

She waited for the delivery of the puppy and it never came.

"We were devastated," Osmani said.

CBS news covered the story of the scam. After hearing about it, Jonathan Dubreuil, owner of Shake A Paw in Green Brook and a Branchburg local, said he had to help.

“It really broke my heart, said Dubreuil. “First and foremost, before being a business owner, I am a father of a 3-year-old boy and 8-month-old daughter. My family comes before anything in life. That’s how I was raised and want to pass that on to my children.”

Once he heard about what happened, Dubreuil reached out to Osmani to offer to donate a 5-month-old, two-and-a-half pound, teacup Yorkie to the family.

"We were so excited and very happy, so excited for my son," Osmani said when she found out about the donation.

Dervishaj was currently at Hackensack Hospital and couldn’t make the trip to the pet store but his father, Tony, came by and picked up the puppy.

Once Dervishaj saw the puppy, it was love at first sight.

"It's like they have been friends forever," Osmani said. "The puppy cuddles up next to him."

Fitting for their connection, they named the puppy "Angel."

“It feels awesome,” Dubreuil said. “That was really my goal. I am quiet person and don’t really look for the limelight but I wanted to do this from the bottom of my heart.”

Since the donation, Green Brook residents have been coming into his store at 14 Route 22 West to thank Dubreuil personally and to find out where to donate and how to help the family who has two other boys ages three years old and two months old.

Anyone looking to donate to help cover medical expenses can visit the GoFundMe site set up for Leart by clicking here. GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.

(Images via Rezarta Osmani)

Photo 1 - Leart Dervishaj, 6, of Little Ferry with his puppy

Photo 2 - Jonathan Dubreuil, owner of Shake A Paw in Green Brook, and Dervishaj's dad Tony)

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