Aly Raisman/instagram Aly Raisman and dog Mylo
Aly Raisman is singing her praises for the two good samaritans who found her previously missing rescue dog, Mylo.
Earlier this week, the 27-year-old Olympic gold medalist revealed that her 11-month-old pup had been found after he got lost outside Boston, Massachusetts, when he was spooked by fireworks ahead of the Fourth of July.
Speaking with WBZ-TV Saturday, Raisman lauded the two rescuers, Carla Duran and Gayle Cataldo, for helping to locate Mylo, telling the outlet, “The people who found him could not have been nicer and dog lovers. They’re such good people.”
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Duran and Cataldo’s dog had previously spotted Mylo hiding in “a fenced-off construction site near UMass Boston,” WBZ-TV reported. After the pair’s dog made contact with Mylo, Catalda jumped over the fence to retrieve the canine, before getting in touch with his owner to orchestrate the happy — and long-awaited — reunion.
According to WBZ-TV, both Duran and Cataldo had not been aware that the dog was Raisman’s pet, only realizing it was hers once she came to retrieve the animal.
The retired gymnast first revealed last week that her dog went missing in a social media post. “To my followers in the seaport/Boston area…my dog Mylo was terrified of fireworks and ran off. He has a tag on and a leash. Please let me know if you see him. Thank you,” she explained at the time.
When Milo was still missing days later, Raisman offered a reward for his safe return and tweeted that she was “hoping with some help we will be reunited soon.”
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“It was really really hard because we didn’t have any confirmed sightings,” Raisman told WBZ-TV. “I didn’t know where he could be.”
“I didn’t know if Mylo was with someone, who didn’t know it was my dog. I didn’t know if he was roaming around by himself,” she added.
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As Raisman detailed to WBZ-TV, her parents had been staying with her to offer support, but after a few days, they left to return to their own home. That was when they finally received the lucky call that Mylo had been found.
“My parents went back home, and I had a friend come over just to hang out with me and take my mind off of everything. And within a few minutes of my parents getting home, my dad got a call from a young girl, and she said, ‘I have your dog,'” Raisman explained to the outlet. “And usually when people say that, they have been kind of like scamming us, or they want a reward, or they like don’t really have the dog.”
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Noting that her parents asked the caller to FaceTime them to confirm that it was indeed Mylo that they had found, Raisman said her mom and dad “were shocked, and they were so excited.”
“My mom called me hyperventilating, hysterically crying,” the athlete added.
Raisman then drove to retrieve her beloved pet, where she stayed on the phone with Duran throughout her 15-minute drive, WBZ-TV reported.
Once she was reunited with Mylo, Raisman told the outlet it was a moment unlike any other. “He was jumping on me, and obviously so excited to see me. And I was so excited to see him. So I was just holding onto the leash really tight,” she said.
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“I feel so relieved today. I feel so happy,” Raisman added. “It doesn’t feel real.”
She also shared images of their sweet reunion on her Instagram Friday, where she posed with Mylo alongside Duran, Cataldo, and their own pet.
“MYLO IS SAFE,” Raisman wrote in the caption of her post, before thanking the two individuals for her canine companion’s return.