Spanky, a jack russell terrier

Spanky and his ‘gang’ reunited at Azle shelter
Jeri Field

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Spanky ran away July 4 from the home on Veal Station Road he had shared with his people for two years. Becky and Marty Shelton and the kids – Joshua, Angela, Amanda and Colby – had left that evening, to celebrate Independence Day. With all the fireworks popping and lights flashing, Spanky apparently got so worked up he lit off down the road to an unknown neighbor’s house.

The neighbor, who had no idea where the unidentified Jack Russell terrier lived, kept Spanky for nine days before dropping him off at the Azle Animal Shelter.

Spanky's gang

Marty Shelton had spent two of those nine days searching for Spanky. Becky called area shelters, and Angela posted a “lost dog” announcement, along with a photo of Spanky and a phone number, on CraigsList.

Weeks passed.

Between out-of-town trips, the family continued searching for Spanky, eventually giving him up as lost.

By the time Azle Animal Shelter volunteer Dawn Conner had spotted the “lost dog” posting on CraigsList and verified that Spanky was indeed their Jack Russell, the Sheltons had left for church camp.

Days passed, and Conner’s emails and phone messages went unanswered.

“What makes it so bad is that we are full back there,” said Rhonda Braudis, another shelter volunteer who pointed to the dog kennels in the back of the shelter. With no word from his people, Spanky’s time at the shelter was about to run out.

“If he couldn’t be adopted he was next in line for the big shot,” Conner said.  “Dawn convinced us to put him on hold,” said shelter director Wanda Skaggs. “If it came down to it I was willing to take him home to save his life,” Conner admitted.

That wasn’t necessary because the Sheltons got back from camp on Monday and the first thing they did was check their messages. By Tuesday afternoon Spanky had been reunited with his gang – and a humbled Becky Shelton admitted that it was a lesson learned.

“We’ve had two dogs to run away because of fireworks,” she said. “But I never even thought to put him inside the house that night.”

Shelter director Skaggs said the best thing to do whenever a pet is missing is to stay in touch with the local shelters.

And always keep in mind that one call is often not enough.

Source:
http://www.azle-news.net/news/get-news.asp?id=10048&catid=1&cpg=get-news.asp