Im-paws-ible return

Schomburg suspects the perpetrators didn’t have a malicious intent, but suspected Immediato was mistreating the dog because he chained Bobbi up in the backyard. But Schomburg said Immediato is good to Bobbi and that even the supposed good intentions were against the law.

The names of the culprits are unknown to Immediato, but he plans to press charges if given the opportunity.

But with his dog back, some of his anger has cooled. Mostly he is thankful — for his dog, for persons like Schomburg and detective Scott Smith, the Oregon police that found Bobbi and Immediato’s daughter, Madison, 19, who stood by his side and helped make posters throughout.

“People here love their dogs,” Immediato said.

THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY

Nov. 11, 2007: Bobbi, half boxer and half Rhodesian ridgeback, is stolen from the backyard of Jeff Immediato. Immediato had posters up within hours asking for information about his missing dog.

January: After spending thousands in posters, Immediato buys a poster maker to speed up the process and save money.

May: A friend of Immediato’s, a dog walker, tells him she overheard a conversation about how two people knew someone who had “saved” a dog by unclipping it from a golf cart and taking it.

July: Bobbi is found in Oregon by police. Five days later she is flown home to be reacquainted with Immediato.

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at daniel.tedford@latimes.com.