The search for the missing disabled husky mix that sparked national headlines is over after she was found dead along with her owner’s stolen car.
Wanda Ferrari parked her car outside a dollar store in Broward county Florida on Oct. 3, leaving her beloved 13-year-old Zorra on her back seat pillow without her wheelchair.
The story piqued wider interest, picking up national coverage, and a $3,000 “no questions asked reward” was offered for the safe return of the shepherd/husky mix.
“Somebody stole a car in two minutes with a pet disabled in the back, for God’s sake,” Ferrari said at the time, according to Katz.
Five days later, on Oct. 7 Katz announced with “a broken heart” that Zorra had been found deceased. “We have not been given any other information by police except the car was found and Zorra has passed,” she said. “We are horrified at this news, we can’t imagine what this poor baby went through.”
Katz is a licensed private investigator who specializes in reuniting lost, missing, and stolen pets with their families.
As Katz tried to track down Zorra, she had shared video footage of the car, and provided images of Zorra in her four-wheeled wheelchair that went viral as the story took off.
“Zorra is paralyzed in her rear legs,” explained Katz. “She cannot walk without a wheelchair.”
Ferrari previously told CBS Miami that she didn’t care about the return of the car, describing Zorra as her “child.”
“What I care about most is the dog,“ she said. ”I am going through breast cancer again. She went through it with me the first time,” Ferrari said. “We rescued her. She’s a rescue. She rescued me, I’m rescuing her. She’s rescuing me back.”
A local animal rescue group—100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida—said in a Facebook video that the dog was found dead when the car was found dumped in a pond.
According to the group, the Broward Sheriff’s Office would not comment or reveal further details other than to say that the dog had been found dead.
Officials from the Broward Sheriff’s Office have not confirmed the information and told the group the dog had died but did not release details.
“We hope the person responsible for this will be found and justice served,” said Katz.
