Cheech The Service Dog Taken From His Owner In Cooper Park

EAST WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A small service dog was stolen in Cooper Park this week when someone knocked his owner unconscious and ran off with the dog.

Shamus Finnerty was out with Cheech — the tiny mutt who helps Finnerty manage his anxiety — in Cooper Park near Maspeth and Morgan avenues on June 6 around 8:45 p.m. when someone snuck up behind him and struck him on the head, said his friend Janine Mandraccia.

“When he came to, his wallet was gone, his dog was gone,” said Mandraccia, 49. “This is just tragic — he’s just lost without his dog.”

Finnerty has been homeless for about six years and is known in the neighborhood as a “good guy” who has fallen on hard times, said Mandraccia.

Mandraccia, who has been living in Williamsburg for the past 27 years, befriended Finnerty about a year ago and has since tried to make sure Finnerty gets the food and clothes he sometimes needs.

Finnerty has had the “super loving and friendly” Cheech since he was a puppy and the pair take good care of each other, Mandraccia said.

“Everybody knows Shamus and his dog,” said Mandraccia. “Cheech sleeps right next to him every night.”

Mandraccia is working hard to get the word out — handing out flyers, contacting local shelters and Animal Care Centers of New York— because Finnerty doesn’t have a phone or easy access to the internet, she said.

Anyone who spots Cheech — a small, white dog with brown ears last seen wearing his red service jacket — can contact Mandraccia at (347) 834-2459 or take him directly to a nearby shelter.

“I’m doing everything I can,” said Mandraccia. “Shamus is just devastated — It’s just terribly sad.”

Photo courtesy of Janine Mandraccia