Michael Barrett
2010-07-14 09:28:19
When Candace Price’s 9-year-old Siberian Husky was lost in a state park more than 45 miles away, she figured she’d have to track her dog down near the scene of the disappearance.
Twenty-two excruciating days into the search, Price never dreamed the exhausted pooch would show up just a few miles from her home.
“If I had a million dollars, I would’ve given it to them,” she said of the couple who spotted Niko, recognized her from an online listing, and called her in the middle of the night last month. “That’s how important that dog is to me.”
Price, 47, has two grown sons. But Niko is one of three dogs she also considers to be her children.
A brilliant white female with one brown and one blue eye, the sled dog with the thick coat is accustomed to hanging out inside the house. She does much of her roaming between four walls at Price’s home north of Bessemer City, or at her fiance’s place in Gastonia.
At least twice a month, Price’s fiance takes Niko up to South Mountains State Park near Connellys Springs. After making the drive more than an hour away on Memorial Day weekend, the two hiked four miles up the mountain. But he made the mistake of not keeping Niko on a leash, and after having removed the ID tags from her collar earlier because they rattled so much, he had forgotten to put them back on.
When Niko suddenly bolted, possibly pursuing a deer or a squirrel, she quickly went out of sight. And four hours of immediate searching turned up no sign of her.
“He was afraid to come home and tell me,” said Price, who is disabled and homebound. “I was devastated. I could hardly sleep or eat.”
With her fiance’s help, Price began a painstaking quest to find her dog. She drove to South Mountains State Park every morning and spent four hours a day taping up flyers, tacking cardboard posters and distributing information about Niko with promises of a cash reward. She opened her windows in the stifling heat and shouted Niko’s name at the top of her lungs so much, she would come home each afternoon hoarse.
Park rangers helped her to put flyers up and get the word out. Price would get calls from residents miles apart who said they’d seen her dog, and would adjust her search.
Help from Craig and his list
In the meantime, her son decided to put a photo and description of the dog on the popular website Craigslist.
“He said he was sure it would help,” she said.
Three weeks passed. And Price was asleep at 3:30 a.m. June 21 when the phone call came. A couple visiting a convenience store in Lincolnton, some eight miles from Price’s home, had been chatting briefly with the clerk. He directed their attention to a hungry and tired-looking Husky that had been hanging out in the parking lot.
The woman recalled a ‘missing dog’ listing she’d seen on Craigslist earlier. She and her husband looked up the information on a computer and called Price.
Niko had been wearing a blue Snoopy collar when she ran away. When the couple confirmed the dog in front of them had such an accessory, Price rejoiced.
“My knees just buckled,” she said. “When I met them and saw her, I grabbed her and was hugging her and crying.”
Niko’s legs were swollen. The pads of her delicate feet were raw from walking. She had some hair missing on her back.
But while she was skittish and uncertain of her former owners and surroundings at first, she’s since returned to normal, Price said.
“I’ve been giving her kisses and loving on her,” she said.
The couple that called chose to remain anonymous and refused to take any money from Price. So she donated money to South Mountains State Park and one particular ranger who helped her the most.
Price said she’s eternally grateful to all who helped in her search. And to others who lose a pet, she urges them not to stop looking.
“The more information you get out there, the better chance you have,” she said. “I wasn’t going to give up.”
Source: http://www.gastongazette.com/articles/mile-49022-candace-park.html
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