Photos: Dog Rescuer Thanked With $1,500 Reward, Gift Basket for Her Own Canine Companion

PETA Says Good Samaritan Saved Lucious From a Bad End, Ensured His Safe Return to the Isle of Wight Animal Shelter

For Immediate Release:
July 30, 2020

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

At a private, socially distanced celebration on Wednesday, PETA presented local resident and good Samaritan Regina Jackson with a check for $1,500 and a gift basket full of goodies for her own beloved dog in thanks for her rescue of Lucious, a pit bull who went missing from a foster home backyard in early June.

Photos can be found here.

After Lucious disappeared, PETA and Isle of Wight County Animal Services launched a concerted effort to find him. All seemed lost, but in the middle of the night on July 4—when animals are typically terrified by the booming explosions of fireworks—Jackson saw someone push a dog out of a car on W. Mercury Boulevard and try to run him over. She immediately stopped, coaxed the frightened dog into her car, and took him home to feed and care for him. When a friend sent her an article about PETA’s search for Lucious, she recognized his picture and called Animal Services right away.

“Ms. Jackson is a good neighbor. If she hadn’t seen that Lucious was in trouble and helped him, his ordeal could easily have ended in his death,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is sure that her kindness will inspire other people to be watchful and get involved when an animal is at risk.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—cautions families to keep an eye on animal companions when they’re outdoors and never leave them unattended in the backyard, where they can be hurt, escape, or even be stolen by cruel people.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.