Christmas crash has happy, doggy ending

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Jessica Garruto says it was the worst Christmas ever after she and her fiancé were left desperately searching for their dogs after a crash in Oklahoma.

"We hit a patch of black ice just outside of Oklahoma City on I-40, and the vehicle slid off the road and started rolling," Garruto told KRQE News 13.

After the crash early Christmas morning they were relieved to find they were OK.  But relief soon turned to despair.

"We looked in the back, and one of our three dogs was missing," Garruto said.  "We had to climb out of the windows because the vehicle was so smashed up, and we started looking for our black Newfoundland mix Tobin."

Their other dog, Kita, was scared and ran away and kept going down the interstate even after she was hit by a car.

The couple immediately reached out to the people of Midwest city for help finding their lost pets.

"A wonderful Good Samaritan found Kita, our sheperd-huskie mix, and took her to the vet where we found out she had a broken leg," Garruto continued.   

But Tobin was still missing, but a call that she was spotted near the crash scene brought Garruto and her fiancé racing back on Wednesday to look for him.

"I was calling him, and I looked up from the picture of him and I saw him standing there in front of me," she said.  "He took like one or two little steps, and then I called him and he ran over and I just started hugging him. It was great."

Tobin is back home after getting stitches in his head and leg. Kita is going through surgery today to get a plate put in her leg.

"When it happened at 5 in the morning Christmas morning and I said to Tyrone, 'This is the worst Christmas ever, and somehow it turned around in that time period and somehow became the best Christmas ever.

"So we're grateful."

The family expects to head back home to Tijeras in the coming days.