South Milwaukee Blog

A dog named Hooch went missing from a South Milwaukee home more than a week ago — including during some of the coldest weather in years — and lived to tell about it.

Check out the story from WISN and NOW. From WISN:

“It is a miracle he survived,” owner Joe Bellehumeur said.

Bellehumeur is elated to have his 6-year-old Rottweiler, Hooch, back in his life after the dog went missing on New Year’s Eve.

“I was starting to write him off. Come on, it was the worst days money could buy,” Bellehumeur said.

The dog took off from his brother’s house in South Milwaukee.

“This little guy can run, and he couldn’t catch him,” Bellehumeur said.

Hooch was out in the cold for seven days before he was spotted under a bridge over a creek Tuesday morning by Oak Creek utility service worker Ryan Maughan.

“As I came down, it barked at me, and it was very startling because you don’t come across that,” Maughan said.

Maughan said he went back to his truck to call his office and let them know what he had discovered.
His co-workers found a post on Lost Dogs of Wisconsin.

“They had it on Facebook, and they found the dog’s name was Hooch, and so I’m calling it and trying to coax it out, and it wouldn’t come anywhere near me,” Maughan said.

Maughan said it was when Bellehumeur showed up and walked down to the edge that Hooch recognized his owner and walked across the ice, but only halfway. Bellehumeur actually had to walk down there and grab him.

“I couldn’t help it, I just started busting out crying, you know?” Bellehumeur said.