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Goodyear Airport Comes Through For Gizmo

Every dog has his day, and for Gizmo, that day came one February morning.

Gizmo was lost, having run away from home for more than a week as his family – the Coburns - was busy moving from their West Valley home to a new residence in north Phoenix. The 3-year-old Shih Tzu and his brother, Raider, both ran away during the hustle; Raider found his way back home, but Gizmo wandered off into the desert.

The Coburns believed they had lost Gizmo forever. They were crestfallen. That’s where Dana Coast, an aviation supervisor at Phoenix Goodyear Airport, and Steve Atkinson, an operations technician, came into the picture.

The two were conducting their morning inspection of the Airport grounds when they spotted Gizmo outside the facility’s fence. After some coaxing, Dana and Steve were able to rescue Gizmo and provided some much-needed TLC at the Goodyear terminal.

“The dog was beat,” recalls Dana. “He was really tired and had tumbleweeds stuck to his hair and his hair was matted.”

Fortunately, Gizmo’s dog tags provided a telephone number. When Phoenix Goodyear employees reached the owners, the Coburns drove to the Airport, where both David and Gina cried tears of joy at seeing their beloved Gizmo.

“He was gone for 10 days,” recalls Gina. “I placed flyers around the neighborhood and spoke with people at the stores around the area letting them know of Gizmo.”

Gina gave Dana a big hug. “I’m an animal lover myself,” says Dana, “So I knew the dog meant a lot to them.”

Gina and David couldn’t be happier having their whole family back together. “We took (Gizmo) to get groomed and noticed he had severe bite marks on his body and neck area,” says Gina. “He was dehydrated, tired and scared. Raider was so happy to see his brother.”

Since their reunion, Gizmo has not left Gina’s side. Every dog has his day. And for Gizmo, that day came courtesy of Phoenix Goodyear Airport.

Above right: David and Gina Coburn with Gizmo at the PHX Goodyear Airport, where he was rescued in February.

First posted: 4/20/2011