Watch CBS News

Woman Reunited With Service Dog After Losing Her At Six Flags

 

UPDATE 9/13 11:45 p.m.: The dog's owner has notified CBS2 via Twitter that her dog was returned Tuesday after the people who found Malibu saw our TV report.

VALENCIA (CBS) — A woman is upset with a Southern California amusement park for taking her support dog from her car and then losing her.

Shelanon Brooks says her dog, "Malibu," was prescribed by her doctor for emotional support, but now the distraught young woman is placing "Lost Dog" ads up in hopes that someone might find Malibu after the dog apparently was lost by Six Flags officials.

A Six Flags Magic Mountain spokesperson insists they were rescuing Brook's pet from a sweltering car. They placed the 1-year-old Pomeranian in the park's dog kennel, where it escaped while an employee was filling the pooch's water bowl.

Six Flags Dog Kennel 4
(credit: CBS)

"I really love my dog and I wouldn't let anything happen to her," Brooks sobbed. "I thought she was OK, I thought she was OK. And I keep thinking what I could have did different."

Brooks was going to take Malibu into the park with her, but the bag she used to carry the dog had just ripped. She said she decided to leave him in the car with the windows rolled down, a dish with food, and a tupperware filled with water.

Security discovered the dog inside the car and that it was visibly "distressed."

The temperature that day was in the 80s.

"Our security personnel and the sheriff saw the dog, which they thought was dead," according to Six Flags spokesperson Sue Carpenter.

"[They] broke into the car to get the dog out. We brought it over here to the dog kennel, revived it, gave it some water and cooled it down," Carpenter said.

The kennel door was left open while the dog's water was being replenished and Malibu ran out the front door and into the parking lot.

Six Flags Dog Kennel
(credit: CBS)

Six Flags officials say it's standard policy to rescue dogs from cars. They say they aren't responsible for the pet while it's in their care.

"We do in-park announcements and we leave messages on your windshield to let you know where your animal is, and that no animal should be left in the car -- that's the law," Carpenter said.

Brooks said she's upset and doesn't believe she was putting Malibu in danger. She just wants her beloved pet back.

"I don't know how I'm going to go back without my daughter," Brooks said. "I don't know how I'm going to live in my house without her -- I just don't."

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.