In a heartwarming turn of events, a pit bull named Bishop was reunited with his owner thanks to the dedicated efforts of two New Yorkers and the power of social media
What started as a rainy day in New York City turned into a 36-hour mission of compassion, determination, and community support.
Will Zurier and Margaret Molloy had been walking their dog, Banks, at AIDS Memorial Park in the West Village when they spotted Bishop, another male pit bull, tied to a bench in the pouring rain.
Despite waiting outside for nearly an hour, no one came to claim him. Faced with worsening weather and concern for the dog’s well-being, they knew they had to act.
“I think we have a soft spot for dogs in general,” Zurier tells. “And then, you know, we see a pit bull – we have a pit bull of our own – we understand that they are generally kind of looked over…I just felt that the dog really deserved another shot, and so we could at least find it another home, as opposed to just calling animal control and sending it out to a shelter.”
They knew calling a rescue would take time, and with the rough weather, they stepped in to help Bishop themselves. Once home, Zurier and Molloy prioritized Bishop’s safety, especially since they had their own male pit bull in the house.
They brought Bishop to Small Door Vet, where staff generously offered a pro bono checkup. “They were just really, really accepting,” Molloy recalls. “The vets there were just so helpful and like, wanted to do anything they could to make sure that we felt comfortable.”
Zurier noted that it was crucial to get Bishop examined because they didn’t know anything about his health history.
“We definitely wanted to get kind of a quick checkup done, especially if we were bringing in the house with our dog and ourselves,” Zurier says. “And, you know, there’s a lot of things that can be carried through dogs, so it’s good to be safe in that regard as well.”
Determined to find Bishop’s rightful owner, Zurier and Molloy explored every avenue. “We called the police station, too. No police reports were written,” Zurier explains.
“We had gone to the hospital to see if somebody got admitted and left the dog, nothing there. And so, like, when there were no police reports, I was a little skeptical,” he admits. “But I found out that people rarely ever file police reports for stolen animals.”
Despite the lack of leads, Molloy turned to social media as a last resort. “I obviously don’t have a TikTok following. I have like 100 followers.
Most of them are my friends, and I don’t post that frequently, but I don’t know,” she says. “I see things like this on TikTok… So I was like, let me just make a video and put it out into the universe.”
Molloy’s video gained traction, ultimately reaching someone who recognized Bishop from a Nextdoor post. “This woman was amazing… she had seen my TikTok post and a Nextdoor post.
She recognized it, put the two pieces together, and then reached out to the person who did the Nextdoor post, which was the owner’s friend,” Molloy recalls. “It was clear that it was his dog.”
According to the Nextdoor post, Bishop had been stolen from his owner while they were on the subway. Someone “picked up” the pit bull and “ran off” with him, “just as the doors were closing.” Bishop was later abandoned at the park where Zurier and Molloy found him.
“It’s crazy to think that a dog can be stolen off of a subway, just like an iPhone,” Zurier said. They later found out that the owner re-canvassed the area afterward, but their paths never crossed.
Nevertheless, when the moment of reunion arrived, emotions ran high. “We met [the owner] at the vet office to just be safe…we also had the vet there, just in case [Bishop] was in bad shape like, ‘Hey, you need to do X, Y and Z for your dog in order for it to be living a good life,’ ” Zurier explains.
“But he basically walked in as the vet was closing…The dog ran straight up to him. He had his toys with him too. He was so happy…He was bawling. It was so tough. And like, I definitely teared up during the situation.”
Throughout their efforts, Zurier and Molloy never lost sight of their responsibility to ensure Bishop’s well-being in the case that his owner wasn’t found.
The couple tried to find a foster for Bishop, posting a flyer on social media and sharing it with dog-walking friends. Many people showed interest, but most could only offer short-term fostering, which they knew could be traumatic for dogs.
They decided that they could ultimately foster Bishop if accepted into a rescue program that could help cover some of the costs, given the financial commitment of potentially having two pets.
Though fostering Bishop long-term would be a challenge, they were committed to ensuring he found a safe, loving home — whether with themselves or another family.