{"id":350498,"date":"2026-07-23T22:49:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/350498\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:49:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:49:17","slug":"prayers-answered-owners-reunited-with-pets-rescued-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/350498\/","title":{"rendered":"Prayers answered: Owners reunited with pets rescued from home"},"content":{"rendered":"

PALM CITY, Fla. \u2014 Families were reunited with their pets Wednesday at the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast after animals were rescued earlier this week<\/a> from a Martin County home. The sheriff’s office described it as the worst hoarding case it has ever seen. <\/p>\n

WATCH BELOW: Families reunited with pets after historic Martin County hoarding case<\/p>\n

Families reunited with pets after historic Martin County hoarding case<\/p>\n

The pets, 80 cats and 12 dogs<\/a>, were rescued from a property located in the 11500 block of Southwest Meadowlark Circle, west of Hobe Sound, on Monday. Investigators said the home belongs to 77-year-old Gail Giustino, a U.S. Postal Service employee. <\/p>\n

Sheriff John Budensiek said Wednesday was emotional for families who had feared they would never see their animals again.<\/p>\n

“It’s kind of a bittersweet day, but it’s a happy day for some families who thought that their pet was forever gone,” Budensiek said.<\/p>\n

Among the pet owners reunited with their animals was Linh Nguyen, who had been searching for her cat Patchy since January. <\/p>\n

“I cried so much when I lost him. There were so many nights when I couldn’t sleep, thinking that he might be somewhere getting abused,” Nguyen said. “I lost all my hope, and on Saturday I was praying to God, asking for a miracle. <\/p>\n

That miracle arrived. <\/p>\n

“He’s safe, and he’s healthy,” Nguyen said. “On Monday night when I saw the news, I had a very strong feeling.”<\/p>\n

The sheriff’s office says a microchip made the reunion possible.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had him for seven years, since he was a kitten, and he’s like my baby. He’s like my child. \u2026 I just cannot believe that all the prayers are finally answered,” Nguyen said.<\/p>\n

Lori Tucker, the shelter’s director of operations, said getting this right matters more than getting it done fast. <\/p>\n

“It’s really important that not only do we reunite these animals with their owners, but we reunite them with the correct owners,” Tucker said. <\/p>\n

Nguyen has a message for every pet owner watching.<\/p>\n

“Always microchip your pet. I don’t think I would have ever found my cat Patchy if I had not microchipped,” Nguyen said.<\/p>\n

Anyone who believes their pet may be among those rescued is asked to first file a lost pet report with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office. From there, an appointment can be made with the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0story\u00a0was\u00a0reported\u00a0on-air\u00a0by\u00a0a\u00a0journalist\u00a0and\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0converted\u00a0to\u00a0this\u00a0platform\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0assistance\u00a0of\u00a0AI.\u00a0Our\u00a0editorial\u00a0team\u00a0verifies\u00a0all\u00a0reporting\u00a0on\u00a0all\u00a0platforms\u00a0for\u00a0fairness\u00a0and\u00a0accuracy.<\/p>\n

\"REP_CARD_Samantha-Gutierrez_PALM-BEACH-GARDENS.jpg\"<\/p>\n

WPTV<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PALM CITY, Fla. \u2014 Families were reunited with their pets Wednesday at the Humane Society of the Treasure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[121173,28,142369,143415,140644,1160,143416,9760,171,173,172,179,12758],"class_list":["post-350498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-cat-adoption","tag-florida","tag-gail-giustino","tag-hobe-sound-hoarding","tag-humane-society-of-the-treasure-coast","tag-martin-county","tag-martin-county-hoarding-case","tag-palm-city","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-treasure-coast","tag-wptv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/350499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}