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Escape From Harlem Doggie Spa Sets Off Pup Hunt

By DNAinfo Staff on July 11, 2011 7:04am  | Updated on July 11, 2011 8:41am

China Doll, the adventurous Morkie, posed with her owner Ebony Dawson after being returned to Harlem Doggie Day Spa.
China Doll, the adventurous Morkie, posed with her owner Ebony Dawson after being returned to Harlem Doggie Day Spa.
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DNAinfo/Olivia Scheck

HARLEM — A people-loving pooch snuck out of the recently opened Harlem Doggie Day Spa, prompting a frenzied search for the wayward pup.

China Doll, a Maltese-Yorkie mix, came to the spa Wednesday morning for a summer haircut and nail painting, but scampered out the front door before she could receive her treatments.

Bridgette King, co-owner of the spa which opened on St. Nicholas Avenue near 147th Street in October, said she was about to take China Doll from the main doggie pen near the front of the store to the grooming station in the back when she realized the dog was missing.

"A panic came over me," King, a Harlem native who's been caring for pets since 2005, recalled. "I've never had a dog get away from me."

After reviewing a surveillance tape, King confirmed that China Doll had made a break for it, sneaking out the door behind her as she prepared to empty water from an air conditioner.

Video from a camera stationed outside the store showed the 2-year-old pup returning to the spa and then being scooped up by a man in a white t-shirt. The man is then seen handing the dog to a woman who carries her off screen.

The mysterious sequence set off a dog-hunt that included employees, friends and even the NYPD, according to King, who estimates that there were 20 people canvassing the neighborhood and posting flyers in the hours after the incident.

"Everybody was sympathetic. Everybody wanted to help out," the groomer and day spa owner explained. "I was heartbroken."

Then, Thursday evening there was a break in the case. King received a call from the woman in the video, who said she'd first noticed the friendly Morkie schmoozing customers outside the Dunkin' Donuts on St. Nicholas Avenue and 145th Street.

Realizing she didn't have an owner with her, the good Samaritan hopped in a cab and brought the pooch to her boyfriend's house while she went off to work.

The next day she returned to scene, saw one of the flyers and called King to return the dog.

"I just started screaming. I was so excited," said China Doll's owner, Ebony Dawson, 34, of learning the good news.

Dawson said she'd been keeping China Doll's disappearance secret from her three kids and was terrified of having to break the news if she didn't turn up.

When she arrived at the day spa Thursday night to collect her dog, China Doll was fully groomed with pink bows behind her ears.

While the Harlem dog owner said she was still a bit shaken by the incident, she praised King for her efforts to recover her missing Morkie.

"She held her composure to get the job done. I was another story," Dawson, who's known King since childhood, joked.

King said the spa is in the process of installing a second gate and may even invest in tracking collars to prevent another escape.

China Doll will receive free grooming for life, King assured.