Garth Wade, freelance writer, Star-Gazette
June 18, 2010
An 11-year-old Colorado mutt named Bart was running loose in Horseheads until some angels gathered him in and sent him back to the arms of his family.
His angels: the Horseheads Animal Shelter and Patrick Lentz, whose compassion made him stop on a busy Route 86 exit ramp and lure a frightened dog from harm's way.
Bart's adventure began May 5 at the Route 86 rest stop in Campbell. He was aboard a fifth wheel camper owned by his family, Cliff and Linda Perry of Arvada, Colo.
The couple didn't know Bart was missing until they stopped at another rest stop about 50 miles east.
Panic time. The much-loved part coyote, dingo, chow and lab had been a Perry companion for 10 years.
The couple back-tracked, talked to other travelers, called agencies, always "scared we'd find a body," Cliff Perry said.
When hope ran out, the couple continued on to Bangor, Maine, en route to Nova Scotia.
Bart did his best to catch up after watching his family disappear down the road.
The dog covered about 20 miles to Horseheads in two days and found his first angel at the Route 86 Walmart-NYSEG exit ramp.
"I could tell he was disoriented and exhausted," said Lentz.
After pulling his work van over, Lentz offered his hand in friendship. Bart snapped at Lentz, but the man took no offense. "He wasn't being aggressive, he was being defensive."
Lentz offered a pan of bottled water. Bart slurped some and sat in the shade of the van while Lentz chatted with him for about 10 minutes.
Cooler and a bit more trusting, the dog accepted Lentz's ride offer and took over the passenger seat for the trip to more angels at the Horseheads Animal Shelter.
A rabies tag on Bart's collar led shelter staffer Sherry Benedict to Planned Pethood in Denver, Colo. "They said they had a report of a missing dog in upstate New York," Benedict said.
Planned Pethood put her in touch with the Perrys by phone. The couple and their other canine companion, Bart's golden retriever buddy "Buddy," drove 630 miles back to Horseheads for a Bart reunion.
"They were both crying when they arrived and saw Bart," Benedict said. "Cliff gave me a huge hug."
That's the way it is when you've raised a dog from a pup, Cliff Perry said. "We've grown pretty fond of him."
He also called Lentz to thank him. "He was in tears on the phone," Lentz said.
"I cried myself," said Benedict. "It was an extremely sad story, but what an ending!"
A lost dog's best friend is the kind of person who treasures his or her own dog.
That's the way it is at the Lentz home in Horseheads, where Annie, a mixed breed adopted from the SPCA in Big Flats, has resided for six years.
"My 10-year-old boy can't go to sleep without her," Lentz said.
Source: http://www.stargazette.com/article/20100618/NEWS01/6180374/A-lost-dog-is-saved-thanks-to-some-upstate-angels
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