Virginia dog found in DeLand, 619 miles from his home

The Daytona Beach News- Journal
By Patricio G. Balona, Staff writer

DELAND, FL
No one really knows how Deacon got here but the German shepherd seen weaving in and out of traffic in a DeLand neighborhood was more than 600 miles from its Virginia home.
And when Pamela Holt of Stuart, Va., got a call from DeLand Animal Control Officer Gary Thomas saying he found her dog, she thought someone was playing a bad joke on her. Deacon had been missing since two weeks before Christmas and Holt and her husband were convinced the dog was dead, she said Wednesday. “I said ‘What a mean trick,’ ” Holt said. “My husband and I had grieved and had moved on. We had decided we were not going to get any more dogs.”

But the 18-month old German shepherd was alive and well in DeLand. On Feb. 18, a clerk at a convenience store at East New York and Hill avenues spotted the dog with a Rottweiler running in and out of traffic, a DeLand police report states. The clerk managed to get the dogs into the store and called police. A Police Department community service aide picked up the stray dogs and took them to the city-run Second Chance Kennel.

Thomas scanned the dogs to see if they had microchips implanted and got a hit on the German shepherd. Thomas called 1-877-Pet Link and found the chip had been issued by animal services in North Carolina. That agency then connected Thomas to Holt.
“He asked me if my dog was missing and I told him that he is missing but that I am pretty sure he was dead,” Holt said. “He said, ‘No he is not dead. I am looking at him.’ ”

Holt said she was overwhelmed by the news. She adopted the dog from Iredell Animal Services and Control in Statesville, N.C., in April 2009 as an early Christmas gift for her husband, Keith, she said.
“Through a long and anticipating journey we arrived in DeLand, Florida, late Saturday night (Feb. 20),” Holt said. “Deacon looked up at us and he pretty much trampled the other dogs trying to get to us.”

The nonprofit group We Help Animals of DeLand and the West Volusia Humane Society provided overnight lodging at a pet-friendly hotel for the Virginia couple who drove 10 hours to pick up their dog, Thomas said. The groups also provided food, toys, water and other goodies for the 619-mile journey back home, he said.

Thomas’ dedication to animals brought to Second Chance Kennel helped reunite Deacon with his owners, said DeLand Police Lt. Jack Waples, who supervises animal services as part of his police job.
“It remains a mystery about how Deacon traveled to Florida and how he survived until he was found,” DeLand police Deputy Chief Randel Henderson said.

Holt said she also wonders every day how her dog got to Florida. Back home the dog is sort of a celebrity, stirring the community to visit him, Holt said.
“I would give anything to have the dog talk and tell me how he made it to Florida,” she said. “I think I am going to hire a dog whisperer.”