This Poor Dog - I Hope He Finds His Way To Safety

[elizabethann]

This was in a local newspaper this morning. I hope the dog will be okay.

Weare, NH

Police track foreigner through woods
German shepherd missing for a week
November 16. 2006 8:00AM

She has been on the lam for a week, evading the Weare police by running into the woods as soon as they catch sight of her. She drags a chain and may become aggressive and dangerous if cornered.

Verona is not a fleeing criminal; she is a German shepherd from St. Louis who ran away from a local breeder last Wednesday and has not yet been caught. Although she is not thought to be aggressive, she is probably scared, and authorities are cautioning residents who spot her to call the police and not try to chase her themselves.

The dog was flown in from St. Louis for breeding. Several townspeople identified the breeder as Norman Lariviere, who lives on Concord Stage Road. "They opened the door to the kennel, and she just took off," officer Frank Hebert of the Weare Police Department said.

Lariviere could not be reached for comment, and fellow breeder Jill Lukasik said he had flown to Germany this week to train his own dogs. The police would not release the name of the dog's owner.

The 2-year-old dog weighs about 100 pounds but looks smaller, Weare animal control officer Jessica Nelson said. The police said Verona, who is from Germany, responds only to German commands, but Nelson said she does not have any training. She is dark, with black and tan markings, and has a 12-inch chain around her neck.

Nelson has received reports of more than 20 sightings of the dog throughout Weare. Hebert said she has been spotted along Route 114 and on Irving Drive, Maplewold Road, Martin Road and Duck Pond Road. But every time animal control or police officers come near her, she flees, forcing officers to try to track her through the woods.

Officials say the dog is not dangerous unless residents scare her by trying to catch her. "She's too timid to be dangerous; she'll run away," Nelson said. "But if cornered, she could bite out of fear."

Residents seem more concerned about the dog's safety than their own. Lukasik, who manages a Mobil station on North Stark Highway and owns seven German shepherds, said she spent days searching for the dog but only caught sight of her once, on Pine Hill Road. "She's scared out of her mind," Lukasik said. "Anytime someone goes near her, she bolts. She's a ghost. She likes to sit there and hide."

Lukasik is motivated out of concern for Verona, who she said is limping with her left front leg. "All of us breeders, our hearts are breaking because she's innocent and she's scared. People call her name and she doesn't know who people are, doesn't understand why they're looking for her. You want to find her alive," Lukasik said.

Several residents say they have spotted the dog - or the traffic jams she is causing. Mary Ann Chapman, a customer service representative at Weare Insurance, said she saw cars pulled over on the side of Route 114 Monday morning after the dog had run by the side of the road. Her husband spotted the dog and told her it looked "exhausted and afraid," she said.

Town code enforcement officer Charles "Chip" Meany said that as long as the dog does not bite anyone, he doesn't see the big deal. "Dogs are loose all over the place all the time," he said. "I was just angry because I had to stop in traffic because of a dog on the side of the road."

[borzoimom]

okay- for what help this- we had a lab at large here. What we did was put food at every day at a certain time. If we even saw the dog at a distance, we didnt make eye contact. It took about a week but finally she came to my husband. He slipped a lead on her, talked in a friendly calm voice, and she didnt fight him. We brought her in the garage, and put down food. Then called our warden.
The dog had gotten lost on a hunting trip. The owner tried to give us 200 dollars in reward- we told them to give it to the shelter. We heard later he did.