‘Nobody needs him like I need him’

Sixty-nine-year-old Leon Stevens is alone without his dog. The 1-year-old Boston terrier was given to him as a puppy by a friend. Now, he knows somebody has stolen his pet.

“I have seen people stop out there and lean out the car – people are trying to pick him up all the time,” he said.

And, it’s not the first time a dog has been taken.

“I’m mad,” he said. “Every time I get (a dog), somebody takes it.”

After four dogs went missing – believed to be stolen – Stevens swore he would never get another one. But after his friend brought the puppy, he couldn’t refuse it. It wasn’t long before the Tiffentown Road resident grew close to the dog that he named Baxter after seeing a commercial with a dog of the same name.

Now, after Baxter has been missing since early Thursday morning, Stevens is pleading for someone to return his friend. All that’s left is a bowl of dog food on the porch and two pictures of the small dog.

“I just want them to bring him back,” he said.

Stevens’ situation is different from the typical “man’s best friend” story.

“I live by myself – all I got is this dog,” he said.

Stevens was put on disability in 1995 after a bout with colon cancer and Rheumatoid arthritis. He had his right leg amputated in November 2004 for a circulation disorder and said his left leg will be amputated next.

Baxter’s presence kept Stevens, who has limited activity because of his disability, happy.

“Just his being here – I would scratch him and, if I didn’t, he would bark,” he said. “When he wants me do something, he barks to let me know. It’s just things you do when you have a little dog.”

Stevens said it wasn’t uncommon for Baxter to escape form the chicken wire fence that surrounds his property. But he never went far and always came back, he added.

“The last time he got out was the other day. I saw him go up (Tiffentown Road) and a black van stopped,” he said. “When I hollered ‘Baxter,’ he started back this way and that van sped off.”

Stevens said Baxter loves people and is friendly to everyone.

“He’ll just jump and play and carry on – he loves to jump,” he said.

There’s no doubt in Stevens’ mind that his dog is with someone, not lost.

“I know somebody picked him up or he’d be here,” he said. “Nobody needs him like I need him.”