Arizona Firefighters Reunite Traveling Family with Puppy

The Northwest Fire District reunited an out-of-town family with its lost puppy on Monday in Marana.

Violeta Mullins, her father, brother, three children and their puppy, 4-month-old Mocha, were on a trip to Louisiana from California on Nov. 21 when they stopped at the McDonald’s on North Sandario Road near Interstate 10.

While the family was getting food, Mocha, a lemon beagle who was outside the restaurant in grandpa’s care, broke off her leash and ran away, Mullins said.

“I couldn’t believe it was happening to us,” she said. “This cannot be the trip that we remember as the day we lost our dog.”

In a moment of panic, she said, the family enlisted the help of firefighters who were at a Circle K across the street refueling their engine. The fire crew helped them search for Mocha for more than an hour. But with no luck and the family being behind on time, the firefighters encouraged the family members to continue their journey, assuring them that they would do their best to find the pup.

Thanksgiving was not the same with worry over Mocha’s whereabouts or whether she was even alive, Mullins said.

Mocha joined the family when Mullins and her children were going through a tough time, she said. Her husband, Gunnery Sgt. Greg Mullins, was one of the four U.S. Marines who died in an accident a year ago when ordnance on a range exploded at Southern California’s Camp Pendleton.

The children needed some cheering up, and Mocha, who was named after Greg’s love for white mocha Frappuccino, did the job. “We had this emptiness in our hearts, and we were trying to find some kind of happiness,” the mother said.

When the firefighters heard the story, it strengthened their will to find the lost pup, said Capt. Adam Goldberg, a spokesman for the Northwest Fire District.

After days of a rigorous searching campaign, including social media postings, posters around the neighborhood and talking to residents in the area, the effort seemed futile, he said.

When the Mullinses were heading back to their home in California, she contacted Jared Gonzalez, one of the firefighters who spearheaded the search.

As a last-ditch effort, Gonzalez called the Pima Animal Care Center to check one more time, his wife, Nicole Gonzalez, said. A beagle matching Mocha’s description was found there Sunday, so Nicole headed over there and confirmed the dog was Mocha.

Nicole Gonzalez said she hopes the puppy’s return will bring some happiness back to the family.

Mullins said she was grateful for the kindness of strangers.

Mullins said she always likes to teach her kids something with every experience — and as the family reflected on this miracle, it was “Never trust Grandpa,” she said her 10-year-old daughter, Camila, jokingly said.