It’s another one of those stories: man meets woman, man and woman plan a wedding in Italy, man’s dog eats passport so he can’t travel. It’s a tale as old as time, right? For Donato Frattaroli of Massachusetts, the days after his wedding became a mad dash against time, bureaucracy, and a mischievous Golden Retriever named Chickie — short for “Chicken Cutlet." Just days before Frattaroli was scheduled to fly to Europe for his wedding, Chickie decided to indulge in a snack that put the entire celebration in jeopardy: the groom’s passport. Discovering the dastardly deed so close to his wedding date, Frattaroli and his fiancée, Magda Mazri, were in a panic. Normally, replacing a passport can be a tedious and time-consuming ordeal, but the couple was undeterred. They reached out to local lawmakers for assistance, and their pleas didn’t fall on deaf ears. Rep. Stephen Lynch and Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts both stepped in and aided the couple in expediting the lengthy passport renewal process. Just a few days later, Frattaroli had a brand new passport, as well as a “pupster passport” for Chickie. As the couple finally set off for their dream wedding in Italy, Mazri joyfully exclaimed, “Andiamo!” – “Let’s go!” in Italian.
