Owner Loses Dog... Man Finds Dog... Man Loses Dog... Family Finds Dog... Family Returns Dog To Man... Man Loses Dog (Again)... Family Finds Dog (Again)... Family Loses Dog... Original Owner Finds Dog... Family Finds Owner... Dog Finds Family

March 27, 2001
Seattle, Washington, USA

Hold on, let me catch my breath.

Three years ago, Cindy Stoehr rescued Simo, an abused, starving Alaskan Malamute.  Renaming him "Simon", she took care of him for close to a year, until one day when he disappeared from the yard.

Ms. Stoehr eventually abandoned all hope in finding Simon, but not for lack of trying—in fact, the effort turned into a statewide service for lost & found pets.  (Access Ms. Stoehr's website through the national Missing Pet Network.)

In the meantime, Simon/Simo wandered about from Edmonds to Lynnwood, possibly having several different owners, until he found the Wentz family in May 1999.  

Kevin Wentz located the dog's most recent owner by a phone number printed on the collar.  He returned the dog to that man, but the dog ran away and came back to the Wentz home two days later.

This time, the man told Mr. Wentz he could keep him.  The Wentz family was very excited about keeping the dog, whom they now renamed "Yukon".

For almost two years, Yukon/Simon/Simo enjoyed his new life.  Mr. Wentz's two daughters, Jessica and Melissa showered the dog with attention constantly.  When again he disappeared, the family was crushed.

"Every morning I'd look out the door and see if he was there," Melissa said.

Then a few days ago, Yukon/Simon/Simo turned up at the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) in Lynnwood.

The shelter scanned the dog and found a microchip which led the shelter to Cindy Stoehr (remember her?), who was very surprised to see her pet again.

An hour later, Mr. Wentz showed up at the shelter, holding a scrapbook filled with pictures of that very same dog.

When he learned that Yukon/Simon/Simo had just been claimed, he was devastated.  But when Ms. Stoehr learned of the situation, she decided to return the coveted canine to the Wentz family whom he seemed to like best.

"His coat was nice, his eyes were bright. He was happy," said Ms. Stoehr.

"It literally made us cry, and we're pretty jaded," said Richard Huffman, PAWS' director of advocacy and outreach. "So many animals are coming in that are just not loved, and here is a dog that was loved by two families."

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