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Rosedale Family Seeks Help Finding Family Pet

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Oct 15, 2009 5:23 pm US/Eastern

Rosedale Family Seeks Help Finding Family Pet

Reporting
Mike Schuh
ROSEDALE, Md. (WJZ) ― A family in Rosedale is in crisis. They're spending hours each day looking for a family member who has run away, or as Mike Schuh reports, has flown the coop.

Like most pet owners, Heather Ortega is very attached to hers. Trax and Heather are her dogs. She also has a bird Pebbles.

"She's a really sweet bird," said Ortega.

Then there's her African Grey parrot Dakota.

"They're so highly intelligent," said Ortega.

So much so that when sitting on her playstand in the living room, she got in motion.

"And my daughter came home from school. When she opened the door, it was a split second and then she was gone," said Ortega.

So now, flyers have been posted.

"I have faxed the flyers to all the local vets, five to 10 miles from this point," said Ortega.

She's leaving no stone unturned, so naturally she called the television station.

"I have posted ads on Craigslist, the Sun tomorrow, the Penny Saver has an ad going on," said Ortega.

She didn't lose just a $1,200 investment, she actually lost a friend.

"I've been walking every night. People think I am crazy screaming into trees. Nothing will stop me," said Ortega. "If everyone can look out back, look up in trees, yell her name. I don't care, whistle for her."

Ortega says she will never give up hope. She's been reading stories about people who have lost their birds and found them 2,000 miles away. She hopes a citizen will find Dakota a lot closer to home.

"It could be years. I'm never going to give up," said Ortega.

Ortega now has a $200 reward for her bird Dakota. If found, she can be taken to any vet who can look up the code on her ankle band.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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