Lucky dog finds good home
By SUSAN MARSHALL
News editor
Happy endings don't always happen in the world of stray animals, but when they do they are worth reporting.
In May, Peabody animal control officer Marvin Lirley spent several weeks pursuing and finally catching a young male dog who had led him a merry chase from one side of Peabody to another.
Lirley developed a grudging respect for dog, which he thought was a blue heeler-mix. The dog spent hours lying on the lawn of the house across the street from Lirley's, head on his paws, just watching Lirley's house. At other times he would wander up and down the sidewalk in front of the city building while Lirley's animal control truck was parked in back.
"He was just so smart," said Lirley. "You knew someone had spent a lot of time with him. He was a working dog."
Lirley was finally able to lure him into a cage with fried chicken from Peabody Market.
"He'd gotten pretty hungry and that chicken smelled good," Lirley said.
By the time the dog was captured, he had earned the animal control officer's respect. Lirley gathered donations from several Peabody citizens and took the dog to Caring Hands Humane Society in Newton, hoping the animal might have a better chance at adoption.
"He was just too good a dog to put down in three days," said Lirley.
He recently got good news from the humane society — the dog has been adopted by a retired fireman and his wife from rural Colwich.
An employee of Caring Hands Humane Society said the dog was an Australian shepherd. The Colwich couple had their names on a list with the shelter in hopes of adopting an Australian shepherd.
"They were thrilled to get him," said the spokeswoman. "They have called several times to keep us up to date on his adjustment.
"By all reports he is very happy there. The couple's daughter from Kansas City even called us after a visit to Colwich to say how thrilled her parents were to have him."
Lirley reports he also is glad the story has a happy ending. "I took a copy of the story about the dog that ran in the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin that week over to the shelter," he said. "So the people who adopted the dog knew that much about his background.
"They must have taken it (his history) to heart," he added. "They named the rascal Lucky."
One happy ending for one smart and lucky dog.
