Willie's Oregon odyssey ends well

Willie and Chuck -- reunited. Photo by Jim Cornelius

Willie is back home again after a 344-mile odyssey that started on the road in front of his house.

The chocolate lab belonging to Chuck Haas and his girlfriend was roaming a bit on Friday, January 17. His owner had taken his collar off so it didn't jingle when he walked around the house.

Willie went outside without it. He went down to the end of his driveway and out on Holmes Road. A Sisters couple drove by and found him there. Without a collar, they had no way of knowing that Willie was right in front of his house. They thought he was a stray.

The Sisters couple did the right thing. They took Willie to Sisters Veterinary Clinic. A sheriff's deputy picked him up and locked Willie up in the kennel behind Sisters City Hall.

By the next day, when Chuck Haas got on his trail, he was gone -- apparently escaped from the kennel.

Haas launched a search. He put up dozens of flyers and drove the streets incessantly, looking for his dog.

He was feeling pretty discouraged when a friend stopped by to tell him that someone he knew had found his dog -- but she had given the dog to a friend of hers in Hillsboro.

Haas tracked down and picked up his dog on Friday, January 24.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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