With light colored tail wagging and a pep in her step, Rylee roamed the spacious roomat Big Rich Courville’s Catering garnering affection from all around her.

Just more than a month ago, crew members with the Jefferson County Road and Bridge Pct. 2 and Port Neches Animal Control Officer Richard Caraway saved the life of the 7-year-old Labrador/boxer mix when she became trapped in a Port Neches canal lift station.

On Thursday, the heroes met with the dog and her family which included Leslie and Chris Minaldi, along with daughters Jordan and Raegan, for an appreciation lunch hosted by pet lover and restaurateur “Big” Rich Courville.

“We had been out of town and Rylee was staying at a neighbors,” Leslie Minaldi said of the late June incident. Rylee escaped from the yard and, just like the family guessed, headed to water because of the summer heat.

With the clock ticking away and the hunt for Rylee not turning up any leads, Leslie Minaldi asked her brother-in-law Corey Minaldi to post something on Facebook about the search.

Meanwhile, across town, two employees with the road and bridge crew working along Park Street in Port Neches heard a noise and found Rylee treading water and clinging to the lift station. She had been missing for about 24 hours at this point.

The road crew quickly called the animal control officer who rushed to the dog’s rescue and somewhere along the line someone posted a Facebook photo of the dog in hopes of finding her owner.

Jefferson County Commissioner Brent Weaver, whose precinct oversees county roads and bridges, saw the Facebook photo posted by Minaldi and realized the missing dog was the same dog that was just rescued. Soon Rylee and her family were happily reunited.

“She was exhausted,” Chris Minaldi said of Rylee who is “more like a kid” then a pet.

Rylee is recuperating and with the exception of infection to three toenails and being put on antibiotics, is doing well.

The rescue story touched the heart of Courville, who told the group how his wife is known to rescue strays on a regular basis.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to grab an old towel and pick up a dirty dog, vet bills and find it a home,” Courville said. “Nowadays you hear so many horror stories about animals and abuse. It’s refreshing to hear how the actions of a two folks benefited the whole crew.”

Courville decided he didn’t want to just feed the two road and bridge crew workers but the whole crew as well as the animal control officer, the Minaldi’s and Rylee.

The rescue story itself went beyond the boundaries of the Golden Triangle straight to county music star Miranda Lambert and her MuttNation Foundation courtesy of Courville who contacted the famous dog lover.

In a letter penned by Lambert to the Minaldi’s, the star said she is happy to hear the uplifting story of Rylee’s rescue and as  a treat sent a special ergonomic dog bed as a way for her to “wish Rylee many comfy nights.”

“Miranda Lambert,” Jordan Minaldi said with eyes growing wide. “I love her.”

As lunchtime rolled around and the groups lined up for chow, Rylee kept close to her family and sat under their table while snacking on fish and hush puppies.

mmeaux@panews.com