Church’s Chicken VP ups the reward to find panhandler’s dog in East Vancouver
Posted December 4, 2018 9:37 pm.
Last Updated December 5, 2018 1:08 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — After the dog of a local panhandler was stolen, the restaurant the pup was taken from is now pitching in to reunite the pair.
Hearing Michael Lorimer’s heartbroken pleas for the return of Mishah hit close to home for Ken Thicke, Vice President of Operations at Church’s Chicken. He says Lorimer is well known at the restaurant on East Hastings and wanted to offer some help.
“Just reading about it and seeing the neighbourhood, and where it happened. the heartstrings did go out to him. I’ve gone through losing an animal recently as well, as a member of the community we wanted to see what we could do to help reunite the two friends together.”
He says in an effort to help locate the shy pup, the restaurant chain is doing their part and adding to the reward for Mishah’s safe return.
“We’ll top up the original offers that are out there with an additional $500 and hopefully that can do some good and help reunite Mike and Mishah together,” Thicke says. In the days since Mishah’s disappearance, Thicke has visited the restaurant near East Hastings and Nanaimo, adding it’s clear to him both Mike and Mishah were well loved in the community, including the busy shop.
“When I went to the store and talked to some of the staff, they all knew who he was, polite, a regular customer and Mishah was a bit of an attraction as well at the store.”
In addition to the monetary reward, Thicke also revealed plans to help Mike through the winter.
“We certainly want to help mike out through the winter and provide him with some support and help with feeding Mishah, hopefully, that’s what the end result is. If not we want to help him even further, if need be and help him adopt a new friend if that’s a road we have to go down. But hopefully, we can reunite them and help support them through the winter.”
It’s a welcome surprise for Kyrin Litvisko, who started the online campaign to find Mishah.
“With what the Church’s Chicken VP is going to offer, it’s going to be a very lucrative amount to whoever brings the dog back,” Lirvisko says. “Vancouver can feel pretty lonely. This just puts a completely new sort of perspective on the city and there are great people around. Honestly, I’m blown away.”
Later this week dozens of volunteers will be plastering signs of the pup in the area, hoping to return her home.
