Friday, March 6, 2015

An East Village Sugar sighting



There have been several reports of a Sugar sighting on East 12th Street between Avenue B and Avenue C today…









Sugar, whose owner is an East Village resident, is the Amstaff/pit bull mix that went missing on Feb. 23 under mysterious circumstances. Read more background here and here.

For the latest, head to Twitter and Facebook.

The reward is now $10,000. Find more details here.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this. I just came in after taking part in the search for a few hours. I hope someone finds her tonight.

Anonymous said...

Dear St. Anthony please come around. Sugar is lost and must be found.

Anonymous said...

Those tracks look they're from a cat, not dog tracks, and there are a lot of strays in that area. Let's see if this pans out or not, any stray wll be hard to catch and it's pretty cold out there tonight.

Scuba Diva said...

Also, this has been over a week; I hope she's been able to get food somehow.

Anonymous said...

There are basically 2 possibilities based on what we know: either the dog got away when the dogwalker had his PCP induced mental breakdown, or he traded the dog for drugs to a dealer or dogfighting ring and now the dog is long gone.

The better chance to find Sugar is if the dog ran away, but some people on Facebook are saying they have been told by the owner that the dog was kidnapped by someone known to the dog walker. Now the dog is spotted today just blocks from its home, when in reality it could be anywhere in the city by now if it were really on the loose.

There are too many different stories floating around, and with dozens of people wandering around the EV with bacon and flashlights tonight it would be nice to know wat the whole story is--was Sugar dognapped, or did she run away?

Anonymous said...

This "affair" is beginning to have the aura of a well-planned stunt connected perhaps with a movie deal.

Anonymous said...

I understand the severity of this situation. It is sad and unfortunate and horrible. But what about the other pets who go missing in this city seem less important? What makes this particular pet extraordinary? Why don't the other animals who go missing get news coverage or people involved; It doesn't seem fair. I do hope the owner though finds him.

Anonymous said...

Could someone post the actual tweet or tip for the sighting? Was it even a credible sighting? There are a few folks who routinely let their pit bull loose on that block. If you see a loose dog that you think may be Sugar, please try to snap a photo and give details (color, sex, weight, collar, was someone with dog, etc)

Anonymous said...

Two words, Lindbergh baby.

Anonymous said...

Anon 10:43 - Might be worth you reading "The Tipping Point".

NOTORIOUS said...

@10:43 That's already been covered in another post. And to save you the time, so was "why dont people care this much about missing children?" bs.

Anonymous said...

anon 10;43, all missing pets are important, Sugar , luckily was rescued by two very media savvy people.

Anonymous said...

I think the question "Why?" can be answered in three words: Ten thousand dollars.

Anonymous said...

This is to Annon @ 12:06. This has nothing to do with missing children you idiot. Missing children and animals are both equally unimaginable. BS my ass.

I've never seen so much coverage and anguish about a pet such as "sugar". The owners must be powerful, wealthy, and highly connected to launch such a media fueled plight. That is all I said. I honestly have never seen such a rescue mission for an animal. I just posed a question. I sincerely wish for the owner to reunite with their dog.

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:43a, do you also get upset at people who donate to charity that is not to your liking? Stop complaining about people who got involved with this dog and go help all the other dogs that are missing. This is not a zero sum game. Many of us help in any such situation we find out about. There's a less-publicized effort to find a missing dog around New Cavalry Cemetery; we'd love to have you help us there: https://www.facebook.com/FindMaryTyler

Also, stop insinuating about Sugar's owners. So what if they're wealthy? They adopted a dog, so they're compassionate people who deserve help, as does the missing dog. The main reason this is so well-publicized is because of the circumstances, with the dog walker possibly doing drugs, which is why the media just ate it up.

Anonymous said...

I am curious at what point volunteers will give up the idea that Sugar is roaming loose in the EV after weeks of frigid and snowy weather. The dog walker holds the key to what happened to this dog and for the dog's sake we can only hope he sold her to someone decent however if the drug addiction aspect of this story is true it is more likely a shady character at best which has or had this dog.

Anonymous said...

These people are getting help because they have asked for it. It's as simple as that. If someone else loses a dog in the neighborhood and reaches out via social media so I can see the info, I will join in that search, too. It's really a matter of asking and providing people information so they can help you. It's like that with anything in life. People want to help, and it's a beautiful thing. I hope Sugar is found soon.

Anonymous said...

Five pit bull puppies were rescued in the Bronx last night. Very cute. If I found Sugar I would donate the money to an animal rescue organization .

Anonymous said...

To 11:52 a.m.: It is entirely possible the dog is here roaming around. What if the dog walker gave or sold her to a local who happens to live in this neighborhood? It's not out of the realm of possibility. And perhaps that person decided to let her loose, realizing it would be impossible to get away with keeping the dog given all the publicity. This explanation makes sense because otherwise someone would have seen her somewhere before now.

Anonymous said...

I have to disagree with the poster above. It's easy to be negative and criticize. In reality, this is amazingly organized, and it is heartening to see people pitching in. The swarm of searchers is also helpful in informing people who haven't heard about Sugar's plight (and a lot of people aren't because not everyone reads the papers or spends a lot of time on social media) about the situation. It might be one of those people who finds the dog in the end.

Margie said...

As someone who was there and saw it happening, people were putting out bacon all day yesterday and today, then somone from the city told them to stop becase they were just feeding the rats. Then someone else said you hve to let Sugar get hungry to coax her out of hiding. So now they are telling eople to put way the bacon, and so all that bacon just went to waste and Sugar will just have to go hungy until she comes out.

moe said...

STILL not buying into it. I call bullshit.

Anonymous said...

Not buying into what?

Anonymous said...

In the past couple of days anfewmpit Bulls were found in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Stten Island but none of them were Sugar. Then I heard there are 10 million pets that go missong every year. Do pit bulls run away more ioften the other breeds or do a lot of dogs just disappear all the time?

Anonymous said...

I wonder how many of the people who posted about the putting out of bacon for this lost dog or went out on searches for it, have done the same thing for a human being. The announcement of the death of Donna Harris, a homeless person who was known at Maryhouse is sad, and should remind us of our obligations to people and to animals. As a young man, my mother, my sister, and my stepfather did volunteer work at the Catholic Worker. My life was deeply affected by that experience. I do not belittle the concern for Sugar, but like others who have posted, I have this feeling that some part of this story is not being told, and some part may be being manipulated. This has been a rough winter, and there may be continued frigid days. Concern, and activism for the homeless and struggling senior citizens should be on everyone's agenda (even if it hasn't achieved the mega reach of social media's concern for Sugar).

Anonymous said...

I feel very sorry for their dog and owner but I feel more sorry for all the people we let live on the streets in this bitter cold. A dog can survive in the wild but people are not designed for this kind of brutal cold. The dog will be found eventually or not. People need to spend more time helping other people, hopefully they can find time to help thme homeless as well.

Anonymous said...

News flash- nobody really gives two fucks about the homeless. But looking for a dog means youre special and you care and now its on facebook and twitter so everyone knows it. These are the types who walk over a dead homeless person on the street. These are the people who protest shelter openings. These are the people who have gofundme campaigns for foreign countries. Disgraceful.

Anonymous said...

Omg people get over it! Such haters seriously. I too feel sorry for all the homeless people living on the streets, however, it's their choice. There are shelters, they choose NOT to go in them. How many of you people commenting who are acting like you care so much about people, actually give money to every single homeless person you see on the street when you walk past them? That's what I thought. Sugar didn't have a choice, it's not her choice to be living wherever she is right now. Just because this story has gotten a ton of SOCIAL MEDIA coverage, cause I have yet and correct me if I'm wrong, seen sugars story on CNN, NBC, ABC, CBC, etc. that would constitute MEDIA coverage. Hell I haven't even heard about her story on Z100 the top radio station in NYC, you? As stated before, Sugar's story has gotten out due to all the SOCIAL MEDIA coverage surrounding her story. No matter how you try to twist it, her story is very heartbreaking and dog lover or not, if you happen to stumble across her story and not get emotional then you're a terrible evil person- just sayin. Sugar's story is getting shares from all over and country's around. Scott & Morgan are very business savvy, have used their resources, and have friends who are very business savvy, and you know what good for them, if it brings their dog back, MORE POWER TO THEM. No need to hate on someone for being smart when it comes to business knowledge. Moving on.

Anonymous March 8 @ 1:48, I'm sure you didn't mean for your comment to come off the way it did, however it sounded very judgmental. Who's to say that the people who are out searching for Sugar have never helped another human being? I too volunteer all over the city helping people as much as I can, no I do not give money to every homeless person, however I do to give my local homeless shelters and I volunteer there when I can as well. I'm a very devout catholic and very active in my church. I give a lot of my time and my money to volunteering not only to my church, rescue foundations, and many other foundations as well, but I'm not going to get into that.. To say that people who are effected by sugars story aren't helping others is a low ass blow, to those like myself who truly are kind giving people. I'm sure you didn't mean it the way it came across, but please be careful with your wording next time as some take it rather personal. Also for all you people with your stupid ass conspiracy theory's who keep thinking there's more to this story just STOP. There's no more to this story than dog was with crazy dog walker, somehow she got lost, dog walker refuses to talk, owners are devastated, owners want sugar back more than anything, owners are willing to pay to get her back, kind caring people are out trying to find lost scared dog. THAT's IT. Now stop with all the hate and let's pray Sugar is found and returned home to her loving parents whom miss her dearly. PLEASE.

Anonymous said...

To the commenters above who are complaining that people are willing to donate time and money to help find Sugar instead of helping the homeless: Get over yourselves! It is always wonderful to see people band together for a good cause, whether it's to help find a missing companion animal, feed the homeless or whatever. You are truly horrible, self-righteous people to take a positive situation and turn it into a conversation about what causes you think people should focus on instead. What kind of person actually finds fault in acts of kindness and compassion? Some people want to spend their time, money and energy helping the homeless; others, the environment; still others, animals...some even contribute to all of the above -- yeah, Anonymous at 3:43 PM, they're not mutually exclusive. It sure takes a "special" kind of person to take this situation, which has brought out the best in humanity, and try to turn it into a something negative. Truly disgusting.

Anonymous said...

To the commenters above who are complaining that people are wiling to donate their time and money to help find Sugar instead of helping the homeless -- Get over yourselves! It is always wonderful to see people band together for a good cause, whether it's to help find a missing companion animal, feed the homeless or whatever. You are truly horrible, self-righteous people to take a positive situation and turn it into a conversation about what causes you think people should focus on instead. What kind of person actually finds fault in acts of kindness and compassion? Some people choose to spend their time, money and energy helping the homeless; others, the environment; still others, animals...some even contribute to all of the above -- yeah, Anonymous at 3:43PM, they're not all mutually exclusive. It sure takes a "special" kind of person to take a situation that has brought out the best in humanity and try to turn it into a negative. Truly disgusting.

Anonymous said...

No- whats disgusting is how entitled douchebags like you cant take the honest truth. To the person above who talked about choices- Im sure mentally ill folks can make those choices. SMH. Dogs mean more to you than people. The 'best in humanity'? Are you fucking kidding me? Entitled folks who are ruining NYC is what you are. And if you cared as much as you say the Bowery wouldnt be struggling so much and NYCared wouldnt fall short with their coat drive.

Anonymous said...

The basement doors to my building were open the day of the twitter "sighting" and I watched a woman peer into my basement to see if Sugar was there. Is anyone concerned about the well being of the dog walker? If he has a substance abuse hopefully he is getting treatment and will soon be able to fill in some pretty big gaps in this story.

Anonymous said...

With all the manpower going into finding one lost dog (when millions of pets go missing every year) just imagine how many homeless people could be helped, making meals at the soup kitchens, helping out with a coat or food drive? This reminds me of SantaCon when some drunk Santas started protesting against the much bigger Eric Garner/millions march against police brutality. They were actually mad that the march had spoiled their annual drunken street orgy. It's not what people say, it's what people do that reveals where their true priorities really are. I hope they find this dog soon, but the response is way out of proportion to the problem. Dogs over people? Really?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous March 8th @ 7:07, is anyone concerned about the dog walker? Ummmm really? Let me answer that for you, NO. Why should we be? He's done absolutely nothing to prove his innocence. He refuses to talk to anyone, including Sugars owners. Please don't give me the bullshit of "he had a mental breakdown". People with mental breakdowns don't hire attorney's IMMEDIATELY after coming down from whatever high, or mental breakdown he had. Do I think he's hiding something? Yes, there's no other reason to explain his silence, to explain why her collar, her sweater and everything else was in his apartment but not sugar. Do I think he is afraid for his life and that's why he's not speaking? Yea, probably. However, this is someone's dog. He needs to make it right. Let the police handle whoever he's paranoid is going to kill him if he talks. This guy holds the piece to Sugar's disappearance and he needs to bring her home. So no, as of now, nobody give two shits about that scumbag dog walker. If he spoke up and told what really happened, and gave clues to how sugar could get back to her owners than maybe, but right now, Nope.

Anonymous said...

#homelesslivesmatter Except the new EV.

Anonymous said...

@anon 10:38 PM

I would imagine the dog walker is afraid of people just like you. You lack compassion for humans (addicts included) and I could imagine you leading a mob to string him up because he is most likely (yet not officially) responsible for the death of Sugar. The dog walker is someone with a serious problem and if you have ever known someone with mental illness of an addiction you might have some compassion. I'm sorry these people have lost their dog forever but I still value the life of humans over their pets. The dog walker will most likely be fined for losing Sugar and his seeking legal advice was a good decision and maybe a sign he is on a better path.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous 10:04

You just said:

"I'm sorry these people have lost their dog forever"

You are involved and guilty! No doubt you are related to the dog walker or the disappearance of Sugar. How do you know this dog is gone forever?? I hope EV Grieve saved your IP address and reported you to the owners the police who are investigating this case. Frankly, the family who showed up at the hospital where the dogwalker was held is just complicit in withholding information as he is. How could you not want to help these people find their missing family member. Dogs are family. Some people choose not to have children and prefer to have animals instead. I'm one of them because not a kid person.

Nobody will have sympathy for a person whose not doing everything in his power to right this wrong. Everyone is disgusted by him and noone gives a damn what happens to him at this point.

Anonymous said...

The sugar hotline voicemail seems to be full - I hope that is a good sign.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous March 9, @ 10:04 AM:

First off, you are one sick individual. Totally sounds to me like you're guilty. I completely agree with what the other person said and i I hope they track your IP address and find out who you are. Are you the DOG WALKER? Is this why you're getting so defensive because people are hurting your feelings? Awwww.. Tell it someone who really cares- like his soon to be the prison buddies where he belongs.. Nobody has compassion for a lowlife such as him. That's not to say people don't have compassion for humans with mental illnesses ass clown. I just don't have compassion for people who steal people's dogs then come off pretending they have some sort of mental illness just to avoid jail time. NEXT.

Anonymous said...

some people are getting desperate for a happy ending so they have sunken to spewing hate towards anyone that does not want to leave food out for Sugar or is less than optimistic about this dog ever being found. If tracking someone's IP address because they don't agree with then perhaps you could also start a witch hunt in your spare time.

Anonymous said...

When people start calling each other names and question people's motives and accuse them of being in a conspiracy (in this case with the dog walker), perhaps it is time to end this thread. No useful information is being posted--just people venting their opinions on dogs as family members and other people on their concern for the homeless. The story of Sugar has clearly touch a nerve in many people. Indeed, this evening there was a report about Sugar on Channel 2 News. But it has also brought out the self-indulgent posters who, instead of posting news / new information are content with challenging other people's ethics using name calling and threats and completely illogical assertions about people's motives. Perhaps the time has come to give this level of intensity a rest. Concern for homeless people does not mean that someone is insensitive to a lost animal, and concern for a lost animal does not mean insensitivity to homeless people. I think it is time to cool some of the standup one-upmanship and just post information and not personal attacks.

Mark Hand The Catchman said...

Dogs have been known to travel hundreds if not thousands of miles to go back 'home' maybe even an abusive one...and that may be what Sugar is doing right now.

Anonymous said...

Shut up Hooker- I was thinking exactly the same thing! Do the parents know where Sugar was rescued from?

Anonymous said...

If this is the kind of madness we must endure on this site let's pray that another dog never goes missing.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10:04 and people like him/her need to learn to mind their own business. If you value human life over an animal/empathize with psychotic criminals/prefer to help the homeless/find the efforts going into this search extreme, simply STAY OUT OF IT. Newsflash: the owners never asked for your help! You can go about your business and live your life. They love their dog like family and will never give up searching for her or for any answers that might lead them in the right direction. Stop wasting energy on trolling and get yourself to a soup kitchen to feed the homeless!

Because if you come to a blog like this (one that I've never heard of until Sugar's story broke) to bash the owners who have every right to be angry at the dog walker, you raise suspicions. Everything you do on the internet is archived forever. Your IP address is in the hands of the moderator and I forwarded the negative messages, especially '10:04' to the findsugar team. I hope the police show up at your door for serious! You rotten human being!

Anonymous said...

to the new 10.04

I usually ignore hateful people that wish harm to others but I think it is worth mentioning that hoping the police come to my door because I have an opinion different from your is the most fascist thing I read on this blog. May I remind you of something called free speech which is was a radical idea in the 1770's yet is something you prefer to silence. You have no right to tell anyone to not speak or leave comments here. The moderator has allowed my comments and others that agree with my point of view to express it here. May I suggest you start you own blog so you can be the gatekeeper and keep those you disagree with silenced.

Anonymous said...

Wondering more about who the dog walker is, can anyone give any hints so that people can take precautions? Perhaps a brief physical description in lieu of disclosing name?

Billsville said...

The owners don't really want to talk about the dog walker until they can get some more information about what happened, but most people in the search parties know who he is. He has a 1 star rating on Yelp which makes you wonder why they ever hired him in the first place. Here is a recent 1 star review of the dog walker (name redacted) on Yelp:

3/7/2015
XXX is completely unreliable and sketchy, he didn't return calls the day before our trip - and then vanished (with keys and money!) after we had already reserved him. We had to cancel plans :( It then took months to hear back from him - long after we had already changed the locks. There was something very suspicious about how he explained away his absence - the most flimsy fake-y excuses. When we asked why not just return our calls, even more excuses. And he refused to return our money! We are convinced this guy is an addict or a scam artist and completely untrustworthy. Don't trust care of your pets or your apartment with him!

And this one is both scary and hilarious, luckily the cat survived:

7/20/2010
ALMOST KILLED MY CAT!

XXX is a menace to animals and should never, ever, ever be hired.

Even after I explicitly told him not to, he opened our windows to smoke, let our cat out, and shut the window behind her, on the 21st floor! She is lucky to be alive because someone in another apartment saw her and saved her. Tom even admitted to opening the window.

Because my cat almost died, I got reports on when my key was used in my apt. Turns out XXX showed up multiple times when he shouldn't have. He also _didn't_ show up when he was supposed to.

I can't even describe how much I hope no one hires him. You may find your animals dead. He is unreliable, a complete idiot, and doesn't know one thing about animals. He is a pure scam artist, and will probably have a party at your house while you are away.

Anonymous said...

What the fuck is "hilarious" about that cat story?

Frankly I'm starting to think that everyone expressing strong opinions (from both sides) on this situation are flipping nutjobs. Poor little Sugar.

Anonymous said...

The person named & pictured in the above Yelp review was NOT Sugar's sitter. That was just a rumor that got started on the Internet because that guy had poor reviews and the same first name. But it's a different guy

Anonymous said...

Yep, the walker whose yelp review is quoted above does not appear to be the same walker as one involved here. Betcha the guy has gotten tons of nasty voice mail messages since the rumor has persisted despite strong clues it wasn't him.

Anonymous said...

However the same walker in the Yelp review posted to his Facebook page that he was sitting in men's Belkevue on March 4th waiting for a bed. Can this story get any weirder?

Anonymous said...

You got that right! And will the concerned citizens who have plastered the find Sugar notices all over Manhattan be concerned enough to remove them?