Sasha can never be replaced, but Jake will go a long way to filling the hole in a young boy’s heart.
Some Windsor police officers have joined forces to raise money to buy a new puppy for Alex Brown, a boy with autism whose canine companion Sasha was killed by a car.
His family has decided to name the new puppy, a seven-week old yellow Labrador, Jake.
“When I went to show the picture to the kids and talk to them, my son looked at me and just said ‘please,’” said Alex’s mom Jackie Brown. “He had a look in his eyes. That puppy would definitely bring him joy.”
Alex and Sasha, a three-year-old golden retriever, had been inseparable. Sasha wasn’t a registered service dog, but she was a therapeutic and calming influence for the 13-year-old boy.
![Windsor police Const. Sean Patterson holds the yellow Labrador puppy for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.]()
Windsor police Const. Sean Patterson holds the yellow Labrador puppy for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.
She ran off while her family, from Ottawa, was in the Harrow area over the Thanksgiving weekend. The night that Sasha disappeared was the first time in three years she didn’t sleep with Alex.
After Sasha went missing, Essex County OPP issued a media release urging people to keep an eye out for the dog. Volunteer search parties fanned out across the Harrow area.
Windsor police Const. Sean Patterson said officers in his platoon were following the story in the media and would often talk about it on patrol or in the locker-room.
“As time went by, you get a little more apprehensive — the dog hasn’t been found, no one has spotted the dog,” said Patterson. “You start to get worried.”
The search came to a sad end on Sunday around 6:30 p.m. Brown said friends and volunteers had been out searching and putting up flyers. They found a collar on the side of Arner Townline, which led them to Sasha’s body in the bottom of a deep ditch. Someone hit her with a car and drove away.
When he heard what happened to Sasha, Patterson came up with the idea of buying Alex a new dog.
![Windsor police Const. Sean Patterson holds the yellow Labrador puppy for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.]()
Windsor police Const. Sean Patterson holds the yellow Labrador puppy for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.
“I’m a family man, I love pets, I’ve always had dogs and I’ve got a little boy of my own,” he said. “I would be devastated if that happened to my little guy. It chokes me up. We were hoping and praying, and you knew what the family was going through. You could see the pain that poor family was enduring, especially Alex. I couldn’t sit by and not do anything.”
The other officers in his platoon were immediately onboard. Patterson reached out to Brown, who was shocked by the generosity.
“The passion in his voice, it was something that he really wanted to do from the bottom of his heart,” said Brown. “This was something that was very, very important to him and his platoon. That just blew our minds. It was incredible to hear.”
After speaking to Brown, Patterson sent out an inter-office email asking for donations. He also put an envelope, donation sheets and a photo of Alex and Sasha in the patrol staff sergeant’s office. The donations are already pouring in, he said.
The dog, from Wingward Labradors, costs $1,000. Breeder Doug Campeau said he will give $100 toward the cost of the puppy plus a bag of dog food and six weeks worth of pet insurance.
Given the response he’s already seen, Patterson doesn’t think there will be any problem covering the remaining cost of the dog. But either way, he said, Alex will be taking Jake home later this month.
“Say we raise $500, my wife and I are going to cover the rest,” said Patterson. “If we raise $1,500, that’s awesome. We’ll pay for the dog then be able to buy some dog food and toys.”
Brown said she has been astounded by the outpouring of support and generosity from the police, as well as many others in Essex County.
“The support is amazing,” she said. “People want to help and give. We’ve seen that for the last week and a half, and continue to see that. We’re still getting kind words and messages and thoughts. Sasha has inspired giving in people and a kindness in people that is incredible to see.”
twilhelm@postmedia.com
![Yellow Labrador puppies play together at the Wingward Labradors kennel near McGregor on Thursday, October 20, 2016. Members with the Windsor Police Service raised money to buy the new dog for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.]()
Yellow Labrador puppies play together at the Wingward Labradors kennel near McGregor on Oct. 20, 2016. Members with the Windsor Police Service raised money to buy the new dog for Alex Brown, the boy with autism whose dog Sasha ran away and was killed by a car in the region recently.
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