Daisy, a Rat Terrier

Understandably, when a person's dog "runs off", they concentrate their search efforts locally. No one expects their lost dog to turn up a thousand miles away. Even when the many national missing pet posting websites are used, making it possible to make the necessary connections even in cases where several states separate a lost dog and his humans, we're not normally thinking that it will really end up that the dog will be found accross the country. But this story should be a reminder that it actually can happen. That may not make it practical to spend a lot of time looking in faraway places for a dog. But it sure does make a case for tags and microchips.

Daisy's Great Odyssey: Pooch Travels from Denver to Knoxville
Jan 3, 2007

Reporter: Stacy McCloud
Knoxville (WVLT) - A woman more than a thousand miles away from East Tennessee is reunited with her dog that has been missing for 8 months, but there is a catch. Don't ask us how it happened, but the dog made its way here to Knoxville.

"How she got here we have no idea," says Beth Finamore-Neff, from Young-Williams Animal Shelter. It's been a long 8 months for this rat terrier named Daisy. Too bad she can't really speak, because she sure would have quite a story to tell.

"This isn't even her original collar. From what the owner tells us, the tag has been moved onto a different collar," says Beth.

We know that daisy's adventure began April 11th when she made a great escape from her back yard. What we don't know is how month's later she ended up in Tracie Crass's front yard.

"We saw a little dog walk down the sidewalk and we just started petting and talking to her," says Tracie. Since daisy had a phone number on her rabies tags, the Crasses decided to keep Daisy until they located her owners.

Vonda Ludstrom was elated to hear her dog had finally been found. But it's each others location that caught everyone a little off guard.

"It's a total mystery. We just hope whoever had her loved her," Vonda says.

Somehow, Daisy made a 1,300 mile journey from Denver Colorado, to Knoxville, Tennessee.

"How did my dog get to Tennessee?" Lundstrom says your guess is as good as hers, considering they have never visited the Volunteer State. But the important thing now, is that this missing dog case is closed.

A simple phone call shares the good news.

"Vonda, hey it's Beth! Daisy is at the airport you all are going to be back together this afternoon"

"I can't wait to see her I'm so excited she's coming home," Vonda says. Daisy's mom says she would have driven to Tennessee the night they got the good news, but the big Colorado snow storm kept them from leaving the state.

Source: http://www.volunteertv.com/strangenews/headlines/5075931.html


Another version of the story, at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-426674/Daisy-lost-terrier-shows-1-300-miles-home.html#:


Daisy the lost terrier shows up 1,300 miles from home
05 January 2007

Daisy enjoys an emotional reunion with her owner

Seven months after disappearing from her yard in the western state of Colorado, a rat terrier named Daisy turned up in Knoxville, Tennessee, some 1,300 miles away. Thanks to the efforts of Tracie Crass, who found two-year-old Daisy wandering outside her home in the southern city of Knoxville, the terrier got an plane ride home.

Crass spotted Daisy on Christmas night and assumed the 5.4 kilo dog had slipped out of its home during holiday festivities. She took the pooch onto her porch and waited for its owner to come looking for it. When no one showed up by the next day, Crass telephoned the number on Daisy's rabies inoculation tag. She reached Daisy's veterinarian, who contacted Daisy's owner - Vonda Lundstrom of Aurora, Colorado.

"The kindness of people gives you a reason to believe," Lundstrom said. "It's the best Christmas present."

A cell phone photograph of Daisy sent to Crass confirmed it was the same little dog that dug a hole under the fence at Lundstrom's home in April and disappeared.

With help from Knoxville's Young-Williams Animal Center, Daisy flew home on Wednesday. The reunion at Denver International Airport was memorable. "She licked me. She loved on me," Lundstrom said. "I have my baby back, that's for sure."

Lundstrom has no ties to Knoxville and she assumed somebody had stolen Daisy. She said she has since filled in the hole under her fence.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to see that it doesn't happen again," she said.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-426674/Daisy-lost-terrier-shows-1-300-miles-home.html?printingPage=true