totally ot: missing irish wolfhound in Alabama

[Linda Van Thiel]

hope posting this isn't a problem ..... permission to cross post 
everywhere

Linda
SE MI


> Champion Irish Wolfhound still missing in Oxford Alabama
> By Nathan Solheim
> Star Staff Writer
> 03-25-2003
>
> The night was a tad chilly and she was acting on a hunch, but in the 
> search for her lost Irish Wolfhound, Cathy Smith was willing to try 
> anything.
>
> So she lit a camp stove situated in a small clearing within a densely 
> wooded thicket in Oxford and started to fry bacon.
>
> She’s tried everything – from manhunts consisting of local pet lovers 
> to saturating the forests with the smell of her dog’s favorite food – 
> in hopes of luring Gavin back to her.
>
> For the second time in nearly two months, Smith, 46, made the 17-hour 
> trip from her home in Lubbock, Texas, to search for Gavin, but has 
> come away empty handed.
>
> Gavin was lost back in February after he got out of Smith’s minivan in 
> the parking lot of the Best Western in Oxford. She had stopped there 
> for a night’s rest on her way home from the Westminster Kennel Club 
> Dog Show in New York, where she was showing the champion wolfhound.
>
> It’s getting expensive for Smith, who hired a national pet detective, 
> Carl Washington of Augusta, Ga., to help with the search this time.  
> The associate director of the Lab Animal Research Facility at Texas 
> Tech, Smith has taken off nearly two weeks of work since early 
> February to look for Gavin. She’s been in Oxford for the past week.
>
> The last known sighting of Gavin was March 15th. The canine was 
> spotted in a clearing off Friendship Road south of the Choccolocco 
> Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant.  Smith said signs of Gavin, mainly 
> tracks, have been spotted as late as this past weekend, and it appears 
> he’s running with deer. "I say he’s befriended Bambi," Smith said. 
> "He’s not bedding down with them, but he’s running with them."  Smith 
> said Gavin is injured and has been spotted with a cut to his side. 
> He’s not dangerous, though, and is a gentle dog.
>
> There is still a $1,000 reward for Gavin’s safe return. Smith wanted 
> it known that the person who claims the reward doesn’t have to catch 
> the dog. If they alert any of the people trying to find Gavin and he 
> is recovered, the tipster will get the reward.
>
> Anyone who spots Gavin, the lost Irish Wolfhound, can contact any of 
> the following phone numbers.
>
> Cathy Smith: (806) 777-5514
> Jaunita Moore: 235-0728
> Chirlee Brown: 236-1575 or 237 1382, ext.12.
>
> For more information on Irish Wolfhounds and Gavin, visit 
> www.iwclubofamerica.org.
>