Woman Spends $35K on Search for Missing Dog

Janet Mihalyfi has spent the past year and more than $35,000 looking for her missing dog, Havoc.

Mihalyfi lost Havoc last November when she let him and her other dog off leash during a walk in a wooded area near her Georgetown home. The dogs bolted after a deer they spotted; one dog returned to her but Havoc, a Rottweiler mix, did not. Since then she has engaged in an exhaustive search to find her missing dog. Via Newsday:

Mihalyfi, 39, of Georgetown has hired psychics and private investigators, posted thousands of fliers, installed cameras in the woods and put out dog food at spots where the Rottweiler mix has reportedly been spotted.

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Mihalyfi, an information technology director at a Washington consulting firm, said she has devoted every weekend since Havoc’s disappearance to the search, which she called all-consuming, exhausting and depressing.

Based on the tips she has received throughout the year, Mihalyfi believes Havoc (who is microchipped) is still alive and living in one of the parks in the region which cover thousands of square miles. Mihalyfi acknowledges that some people might object to that kind of money going to find a dog, but to her, Havoc is a family member. “I love him as I would anybody that I’m close with … I can’t give up on him,” she said.

“I know people are in shock by the number but there’s also a correlation between how long I go after this,” Mihalyfi said. “Lost-dog searches are expensive and this has lasted a year.”