Barbara Schmitt thinks of her dog, Surry, running in traffic and terrified, the way she found the stray two years ago.
“That’s how I picture her now,” Schmitt said her 5-year-old German shepherd mix that has been missing since a fire destroyed their home at 3288 South Elm St. in Denver last Wednesday night.
Neighbors, family, friends, even Surry’s vet has been searching south metro ever since.
“I’m going to be searching for her until I find her,” Schmitt, reached at a hotel room provided by the American Red Cross, said Sunday in a voice strained from calling her dog.
Anyone who spots Surry should call Schmitt at 970-231-9099, or her friend Nancy Fitzgerald at 303-437-7174.
“Barb has been looking day and night,” Fitzgerald said. “She’s been going like this for five days.”
Schmitt lost everything, almost, in the fire.
“Surry is the only thing I have left,” Schmitt said. “I’m not going to give her up.”
Her other dog, Benny, a golden Labrador retriever, died of smoke inhalation and firefighters found him by the front door. Neighbors saw Surry running away. The dog was wearing a fuchsia bandana and a brown leather collar.
The dog apparently leapt out a window blown out by the heat.
Schmitt is a professional artist and trained mental health therapist. She’s taken in stray animals for years and volunteers at The Children’s Hospital, where she does face-painting for sick kids.
She was at a charity fund-raiser when the fire burned her home.
Said her friend, Fitzgerald: “She is an amazing person and has given so much to others, especially children and animals.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
