Ocean City community searches for missing puppy 'Dutch'

Art and Jaime Wharton adopted a 5-month-old German shepherd on June 27 and named him Dutch.

“We found him on Petfinder.com. He was a rescue from Texas. He was found with his mom and litter under an abandoned home,” Art Wharton said in an interview Thursday.

Dutch quickly became a member of the family for the Glassboro couple. But being a rescue from a tough situation, the puppy was skittish of people, Wharton noted.

On Monday, the Whartons drove to their family’s Ocean City home for a visit and took Dutch. It was around 5:30 p.m. When Art was taking Dutch out of the car, the dog took off.

The Whartons ran after Dutch.

They searched the area around Bartram Lane and Waterview Boulevard in the Merion Park section of town.

“We ended up going around Bartram and Waterview and I saw him. Then he ran and I saw him again. He had his collar and leash on. He was walking down the street,” Wharton explained of the moments after Dutch jumped out of the car Monday.

“He went into a driveway. Everyone thought it would be a happy ending, but then he ran again, we think in the marsh between Waterview and Bartram,” Wharton added

Since then, the community has come together to help find Dutch, but he hasn’t been seen since about 8:30 p.m. Monday near Bartram Lane and Waterview Boulevard.

    Dutch was last seen Monday night near Bartram Lane and Waterview Boulevard.
The Whartons took to social media asking if anyone had seen Dutch and if so, to contact them. In a post, Art Wharton asked residents to please check their decks, cars, and around their sheds because Dutch could be hiding. The Whartons are also working with Chasing Tails Trap & Rescue.

“The thought is that he is hiding somewhere like that. He is wearing a red collar with a black leash and he is very skittish with people, but very happy to see dogs. The thought is that he is in hiding, because if he came out someone would have seen him. I want to thank everyone who's sent prayers or has been watching for him as they go out on walks. Hopefully he gets hungry soon and comes out and is spotted,” Wharton said in the Facebook post.

Then there was an outpouring of support from Ocean City residents, most of them strangers, to help them search for Dutch, Wharton said.

“To the community, I say thank you. I never expected anything close to this kind of support, especially from people I don’t know,” he said. “We don’t come down often. This was our first time down to Ocean City this summer. I never met most of the people who helped us before then.”

People let the couple use their decks to look out over the marsh to see if they could spot Dutch. The owner of OCNJ Drone took his drone up “multiple times a day” searching, Wharton said.

People even lent Art Wharton a HAZMAT suit to go into the marsh. Others let the Whartons camp out in their backyards while looking in the marsh for Dutch.

The Humane Society of Ocean City and the Ocean City Police Department also have been assisting with getting the word out and searching, Wharton said.

“People of all ages have helped out. A teenager volunteered to go into the marsh to search for Dutch. An older woman let us stay in her backyard. A family opened their garage and told us if we needed to use the bathroom we could.”

The Whartons will continue to search. They know so many other people in the community will also continue to search. They will not give up on finding Dutch.

“I can’t stop blaming myself. He just got away from me. Hopefully, I can make it up to him,” Wharton said. “He is mine and we love him. He’s our family.”

If anyone sees Dutch, contact Art Wharton at 610-209-4743.    Dutch was skittish but settled in with his new family.