Alex, husky

Lost husky who wandered 200 miles reunited with family
Dog Heirs
March 23, 2012

Alex, a 13-year-old Siberian Husky, who made a 200-mile journey in search of his owner, was reunited with his family yesterday. The dog had gotten separated from his owner when they were moving homes in December of last year.

Alex had wandered from Dahlonega, Georgia to Morganton over a four-month period, until one day he showed up in Kerri McFalls’ neighborhood. When Kerri saw the mangy and thin dog, she knew he was in trouble and wanted to help.

She right away posted what information she had on the husky to her Facebook page on March 12. "There is a husky who appears to be lost in my neighborhood. It has a collar with tags but she wont let me get close enough to her. She appears to be hungry and sad. :/ If anyone is missing a dog please let me know," she wrote.

Unable to lure the dog to her, animal control officers set up a cage outside of Kerri's house to catch the shy animal. Kerri found Alex in the cage early one morning, and took him inside to give him food and water.

Although the dog was wearing a collar with a rabies tag, connecting with his owner proved to be a bit more difficult. The phone number on the tag was for a vet’s office outside of Atlanta. When Kerri called, they told her that the owner, John Locklear, had called them in December and said he had just relocated and during the move he had lost Alex. The vet's office said they would try to reach the owner and give him the news.

While she waited, she gave the scared dog lots of TLC, treating him for worms and cleaning him up. Kerri posted: "Alex is so very sweet. I can tell he was just so scared. He's finally able to eat and rest now... *fingers crossed*!!".

A few days passed, and the vet's office had not heard back from John yet. Knowing that Alex must have really missed his family to be lost for so long, Kelli thought she would help with trying to reunite the pair as soon as possible. She again mobilized her friends and set up a Facebook page to see if anyone could track down the right John Locklear from the 100 plus listed in the area.

After some sleuthing, Jamie Lee Alison found his sister and was able to send word to her about Alex, so the sister could tell her brother.

Within just a week of finding Alex, Kerri received a call from John who was amazed to hear how far away his lost dog had wandered. The two arranged to meet so that Kerri could return Alex to John. Kerri updated her friends with the news: "Everyone has been amazing... I'm still in shock over Alex's journey and story... John is, too..."

Finally, after his epic trip, the devoted dog was homeward bound. Kerri brought a few of her friends, who had helped her, along for the reunion. Kerri described Alex's reaction to the reunion: "When Alex got out of the car his tail was wagging and he went right up to John and was so happy as if to say 'Hey, I've been looking for you. Where have you been?'"

John told Kerri he had moved to Dahlonega, Georgia from Merietta and figures Alex was trying to find his way back to their old home in Merietta when he became lost. He had not seen Alex since December 1 of last year. John said his first priority was to take Alex to the vet prior to talking to any media.

Kerri has nothing but praise for how friends and the community came together and rallied behind Alex and "supporting his mission to make it back home." Kerri posted: "Alex is truly a special dog. I feel like God put him in my life for a reason and I feel like a better person now because of him. ♥ We all did a good thing. :)"

Both parties videotaped the occasion. Here's Kerri's video of taking Alex home.



Source: http://www.dogheirs.com/larne/posts/777-lost-husky-who-wandered-200-miles-reunited-with-family
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