Heroic Pet Is Dogged by Publicity as She Leaves Hospital

Dachshunds are far from the most popular breed of dog in Ventura County.

When it comes to pets, far more people keep German shepherds, Labrador retrievers and several other larger breeds.

But on Tuesday, everybody’s favorite local pooch was Moxie the doxie.

The 20-pound black-and-tan dog was released from a Port Hueneme veterinary hospital Tuesday after an 11-day stay. She and her owners were hounded by a handful of reporters as they left the hospital with their pet of more than six years.

It has been like this for Ed and Beth Pinsky since burglars ransacked their Ventura home June 9. Before making off with $5,000 worth of electronic equipment, cash and family jewelry, the burglars savagely beat and stabbed the noisy dachshund.

Ventura police said they have few clues and do not expect to make an arrest in the case.

After the incident, veterinarian Nino Garrolini volunteered to treat Moxie for free. That’s when the crush of letters, telephone calls and news coverage began.

“We didn’t have enough people to pick up the telephone lines,” Karen Garrolini, the vet’s wife who is an administrator at his clinic, said of the telephone calls.

“I’m certainly not the only vet who has donated his time,” Nino Garrolini said. “So this is nice for the whole profession.”

People as close to home as Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury, who donated $100 to the cause, and as far away as Milwaukee have sent small contributions that totaled more than $1,600 to help defray the cost of Moxie’s surgery. Others sent get-well cards with pictures of their own dachshunds.

And newspapers from across the country have been constantly calling the Pinskys, sometimes as early as 5 a.m.

“It’s getting a little old,” said 13-year-old Leah Pinsky. “I just want her and us to get back to normal.”

On Tuesday, a little bit of the normal life returned for the Pinskys.

In a marked departure from the previous 10 days of drugs, surgery and healing, Moxie barked and wagged her tail Tuesday when Garrolini handed the plump wiener dog over to the Pinsky family.

The pooch licked Leah’s face when it was her turn to hold the star of the day.

“My attitude toward Moxie is changing,” the teen-ager said as she clutched Moxie in the back seat of the family’s car.

“Before, we’d kick her out of the house when she started stinking or put her out of the room when she got noisy. Not anymore.”

Once the dog gets used to having only one eye, Garrolini expects her to make a full recovery.

When Moxie was taken to the Channel Islands Veterinarian Hospital the day after the attack, Garrolini was unsure the dog would survive. Moxie’s skull was fractured in several places, her left eye was destroyed and the 24-inch-long dog had multiple stab wounds.

But on Tuesday, Moxie lived up to her name. She survived a vicious and senseless attack and returned home.