MSN Home  |  My MSN  |  Hotmail
Sign in to Windows Live ID Web Search:   
go to MSNGroups 
Free Forum Hosting
 
Important Announcement Important Announcement
The MSN Groups service will close in February 2009. You can move your group to Multiply, MSN’s partner for online groups. Learn More
AmericanIdolLoftFairNBalancedContains "mature" content, but not necessarily adult.[email protected] 
  
What's New
  
  Home Page  
  General  
  Message Boards  
  Loft Banquet 07  
  2007 Loft Awards  
  Loft Banquet 06  
  2006 Loft Awards  
  Misc  
  American Idol 7  
  Big Brother  
  Big Brother 9  
  Big Brother 8  
  American Idol 6  
  LOST!  
  ANTM  
  Big Brother 7  
  Canadian Idol 4  
  American Idol 5  
  Rock Star 2  
  Misc 2  
  Countdown: OBAMA  
  * * * 2008 * * *  
  Pregnancy  
  Movies  
  Al-Qaeda  
  Global Awareness  
  Animal Awareness  
  
  Animal Rescue  
  
  Happy Endings  
  
  Animal Friends  
  LBB  
  2008 NCAA  
  LFL 08-09  
  LFL 07-08  
  LFL 06-07  
  LFL 05-06  
  Quizzes  
  Books  
  Book Listings and Recommendations  
  Creative Streak  
  Icons and such  
  Health N Fitness  
  Pictures  
  Birthdays  
  Recipes  
  Spiritual  
  Weather Board  
  Science & Crypto  
  Games  
  LoftBanquet2005  
  Free Swim  
  Safety Dance  
  Loftchives  
    
    
  Links  
  FNB Guidelines  
  
  
  Tools  
 
Happy Endings : Sam, the Golden Ghost...
Choose another message board
 
     
Reply
 Message 1 of 3 in Discussion 
From: Jag  (Original Message)Sent: 4/9/2006 7:16 AM
 

Golden retriever back after 2 years on the run

Technological devices couldn’t make Sam return, but a ham dinner could

Updated: 9:09 a.m. ET April 8, 2006
 

STRATHAM, N.H. - Satellite tracking, helicopter surveillance and dart guns failed. In the end, it was a ham dinner and a remote-controlled net that brought a golden retriever named Sam in from the cold after two years on the run.

Until this week, “he was winning 200 to 1,�?said Steve Sprowl, one of the experts who took part in the hunt for the dog who earned the nickname “Golden Ghost.�?/P>

Raiding garbage cans and winning handouts from sympathetic neighbors, the dog survived two New England winters, deer hunting season and a blow from a car.

Peg and Dennis Sklarski got Sam in 2004, after he was rescued from a life inside a chain-link fence in Tennessee, where he was sporadically fed and otherwise ignored. They had him only three weeks when Sam got loose.

Over the months and years, neighbors repeatedly spotted Sam and called the Sklarskis, and Dennis said he spent many nights cruising the roads.

In January, experts arrived from Boston with infrared cameras and a remote-controlled net but had no luck. A friend provided his helicopter for searching. Sprowl, an investigator with the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, failed repeatedly to get the dog with a tranquilizer gun.

Finally, donations let the SPCA buy its own remote-controlled net, and a family that had been feeding Sam had the contraption set up on its wooded lot. Other neighbors agreed to stop leaving him food.

Waiting for Sam
After five weeks, police Officer Tona McCarthy, who had devoted hours of his own time to tracking the dog, spotted Sam in the area Wednesday and hid at the lot, watching for him on a video monitor. Soon, Sam appeared.

On the video, Sam’s caution was obvious. He sniffed the air and the ground and looked from side to side. He crept toward the food dish.

Normally, Sam grabs his food bowl with his teeth and drags it away to eat. This time, though, he gobbled a few mouthfuls of ham first, giving McCarthy just enough time to release the net. The far end just caught the dog as he fled with the bowl.

Sam is now at the SPCA animal shelter, being treated for a lip cut suffered while trying to escape. He will remain under observation for 10 days for any problems such as rabies. Then he can go home to the Sklarskis.

They are counting on the dog’s obvious intelligence to help him recognize that it’s not a bad deal to be a beloved pet.

“The first time that I saw Sam after he was rescued, I went to his cage and I got down on all fours and said, ‘Oh, Sammy boy�?and he looked up at me, and he wagged his tail and he reached his paw out to me,�?Peg Sklarski said.

© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
Image: Sam, one lucky dog
 
Allegra Bowman / Eagle-Tribune - AP
Sam, a golden retriever that was on the run for the last two years, is being quarantined at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Stratham, N.H.
 


First  Previous  2-3 of 3  Next  Last 
Reply
 Message 2 of 3 in Discussion 
From: MSN NicknameKittyMarthaPooSent: 4/17/2006 3:35 AM
Sam is gorgeous. I am so glad he has been located

Reply
 Message 3 of 3 in Discussion 
From: MSN NicknameSmigChickSent: 5/1/2006 8:54 PM
LOL, what a silly dog! So glad he's ok now though.
 
He escaped after only 3 weeks in his new home though. It takes a while for a rescued dog to feel comfortable - they really shouldn't be left unattended or in a situation that would allow them to escape.