by Mike Landis, KY3 News
January 23, 2011
FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. -- One of "man's best friends" brought some hope to a community recovering from the New Year's Eve tornado outbreak. Asher is a 3-year-old Australian shepherd that disappeared after his family's home was swept away.
"There was one missing link to our family that held us back from moving on," said Norma Mitchell, owner of the dog.
There were scattered reports of Asher being sighted on the post. The Mitchell family eventually secured new housing, and began the search for Asher. Posters for Asher were plastered across the fort and a Facebook page was set up for the cause.
Soon, the search grew into an affair involving at least 100 people. Volunteers from the fort banded together to help find the dog. For three weeks they combed woods, fields, and neighborhoods.
Late last week, Mitchell family decided to drive by the site of their old house "one last time." That's when they found that Asher was back.
"I got down on my hands and knees and I was like begging him, 'Asher, come on, come on, come to me,'" said Mitchell.
The dog had lost at least 11 pounds, which Mitchell jokingly said was a good thing. A veterinarian gave him a clean bill of health.
"He didn't obviously didn't give up on his family, and they sure didn't. What wonderful pet owners that they didn't give up on him," said SFC Julie Paramore, who helped organize the search.
Those who spent time searching for Asher believe his story has brought a little bit of hope to the community, which will be recovering from the tornado for some time.
"From the Humane Society standpoint, things aren't always positive and we are not always dealing with happy endings. This is definitely one of the good things," said Kim Fuhr, president of the Pulaski County Humane Society.
Many of the volunteers met Asher for the first time on Sunday at a homecoming party held in his honor.
Source: http://articles.ky3.com/2011-01-23/asher_27045739
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