Westminster man spends thousands of dollars, posts thousands of signs in search of beloved dog

Brownie coul be just another missing dog among so many missing dogs. And Vincent Nguyen could be just another distraught owner of a missing dog.

Except for this:

Nguyen, 21, has taped more than 2,000 notices about Brownie on street signs from Long Beach to Huntington Beach. He has camped out at a freeway construction site because someone reportedly spotted the dog there. At other alleged sighting sites, he has left sweaty socks near bowls of water in the hope that Brownie might track his scent.

The 25-pound mutt escaped from a groomer near Nguyen’s Westminster home on July 27. Nguyen believes Brownie is out there, trying to get home.

“I don’t think I’ll ever give up hope,” Nguyen said. “I know I will find him someday.”

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  Westminster residents Kathy Thai and Vincent Nguyen have hung more than 2,000 posters around north Orange County and Long Beach in search dog Brownie, missing since July 27. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Nguyen)

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  Westminster resident Vincent Nguyen has spent thousands of dollars searching for his dog Brownie, missing since July 27. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Nguyen)

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  Westminster resident Vincent Nguyen, shown here with his family, has spent thousands of dollars searching for his dog Brownie, missing since July 27. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Nguyen)

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  Westminster residents Kathy Thai and Vincent Nguyen have hung more than 2,000 posters around north Orange County and Long Beach in search dog Brownie, missing since July 27. (Photo courtesy of Vincent Nguyen)

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Nguyen’s girlfriend, Kathy Thai, has been his constant sidekick in this mission. A couple since their days at Rancho Alamitos High, they now attend Golden West College together.

“It breaks my heart,” Thai said. “Brownie has been in my life, too, for four years, ever since he was a puppy.”

Each “Lost Dog” sign, glued to a fluorescent poster board, costs about a dollar to produce. And that’s not all. Nguyen spent $2,000 on a drone to scope out potential romping grounds.

Based on suggestions gleaned from social media comments and dozens of phone calls, Nguyen has even pasted his advertisements at freeway on-ramps.

He checks out every lead – all dead ends so far. “Someone will call about a loose dog, and when I show up, it’s a chihuahua,” Nguyen said.

For the record, Brownie is a terrier and pit bull mix.

Nguyen’s boss at Grams BBQ in Garden Grove, where he works as a takeout deliverer, gave him August off to devote to the hunt.

Nguyen visited dozens of shelters, repeatedly. He’s called some 80 veterinarians. Brownie has an identification microchip, but his collar had been removed during his bath at the groomer’s.

“Now I am back at school and work, so I have less time,” for searching, Nguyen said.

When Nguyen first brought Brownie home in 2016, he recalled, “My mom said, ‘No, no, no! I don’t want a dog! Take it back!’”

But then, he said, “Everyone in my family fell in love with Brownie.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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