Dog lost after car crash found Tuesday afternoon

VERMILION — A group of kids became heroes Tuesday after finding a dog that went missing after a car crash. Sugar was ejected from crash Monday afternoon that happened in front of German's Villa at 3330 Liberty Ave., at 1:32 p.m. Sugar's owner, Kelly Neal, was driving a 2008 Ford Focus westbound when the car left the roadway, hit a large landscaping boulder in the front lawn of the property and rolled several times before coming to a rest. The crash, caught on a security camera video, shows Sugar being thrown from the car onto the lawn and the dog running away. Neal suffered minor injuries in the crash but did not require medical treatment, said Police Chief Scott Holmes. "She suffered some scrapes and bruising but thankfully she was wearing her sea tbelt because that could have been much worse," Holmes said. But Sugar could not be found in the aftermath. The family posted on social media, pleading for help to find Sugar and the Vermilion Police Department posted Sugar's photo, asking for anyone in the nearby Vermilion-on-the-Lake neighborhood to keep an eye out for the possibly injured dog. Police search the woods behind the banquet hall and the surrounding area and did not find any trace of the dog, which was described as friendly and microchipped. By Tuesday morning a professional pet recovery service was assisting the family and police and family members were asking well-meaning searchers to stop looking, for fear they may scare an already frightened dog and complicate rescue efforts. But as luck would have it, a dozen or so kids came to Sugar's rescue. Almost exactly 24 hours after the crash, children playing at the shore of a vacation home on Edgewater Drive noticed something. "The kids were enjoying the lake and saw the back of her amongst the rocks. They told their parents and the parents called us," Holmes said. Sugar was found, tucked into a small hole among the boulders down a steep shoreline where she could partially hide and stay wet and cool along the water's edge. "Our guys got there and realized it was a bigger task than they initially thought it would be to get Sugar out of there, so we got the Vermilion Fire Department and LifeCare came down because they automatically come down with rescue anyway," Holmes said. Sugar was taken to Vermilion Veterinary Clinic for evaluation and treatment. Dr. Janet Ranney of the Vermilion Veterinary Clinic said Sugar was given fluids and treatment for shock but was resting comfortably and went home Tuesday evening. "She didn't act aggressively or anything, and we were being cognizant of that initially as well, knowing an injured dog could be," he said. "She was very calm." As for the "first" first responders, they were treated to a frosty reward. Holmes issued all the kids who found Sugar a VPD Did the Right Thing coupon, which is valid for a free ice cream at Romp's Dairy Dock. Officers issue the coupons to kids in the city as rewards for actions such as wearing bike helmets, using a crosswalks, wearing life vests when boating — or in this case, helping save a scared and injured dog, Holmes said. Neal, of Oberlin, was cited with texting and driving and failure to control, Holmes said. "It doesn't take a few seconds of looking at your phone to travel pretty far," he said. "Thanks to our first responder partners at the VFD and LifeCare and everyone else who helped make this a very happy ending." Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.