ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 23, 1996 TAG: 9612230102
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SERIES: Whatever happened to...? A look back at 1996
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
THE ARMY flew a soldier across the Atlantic for a reunion with the mutt who mysteriously turned up in Roanoke.
In the lobby of the Roanoke Valley SPCA shelter is a hall of fame of sorts - a tribute to local doggy celebrities.
There is a photo of Duke, the one-time stray dog on the lam, now domesticated and a little chunky. A portrait of Elvis, the mutt with the broken pelvis who was adopted by a Roanoke family, hangs nearby.
The latest addition to the collection is a plaque from the owners of Pugsy, the pug from Fort Lewis, an Army post in the state of Washington, who somehow wound up in Roanoke this spring. The SPCA, using information on Pugsy's tags and help from the staff of U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., tracked the dog's owners to an Army post in Germany.
Pugsy was reunited with them - Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Fair, her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Randy Fair, and their sons, Cullen, Kory and Kevin - in June. Pugsy flew on a Delta Airlines flight to Germany - bumped up from coach to first class. His ticket was paid for with donations to the SPCA.
Pugsy's "doing great," Elizabeth Fair said last week in a phone interview from her home at an Army post in Landstuhl, Germany, about an hour and a half from Frankfurt.
His allergies have cleared up. His eyes are no longer goopy and runny. He has a good appetite.
Best thing is, Pugsy's back with 10-year-old Cullen, who received the dog as a gift from his aunt when Cullen was 5 years old.
For Cullen's 10th birthday in May, his parents gave him a card. Inside was a picture of Pugsy and a simple sentence: "To Cullen, You're getting Pugsy back."
"We had just heard a week before [Cullen's] birthday that someone had found Pugsy," Fair said. "But we didn't say anything to the kids. We didn't want to get their hopes up. But when we were sure we were getting him back, we got the card. Cullen was floored."
Pugsy couldn't fly in the cargo bin because of his allergies. And he couldn't fly in the passenger cabin unless someone accompanied him.
So, two SPCA staffers drove Pugsy to Dulles International Airport, outside Washington, D.C. The Army flew Fair over to get him and bring him home.
"When I brought Pugsy off the plane, he went right to Cullen," Fair said.
Cullen and his brother Kevin just bought Pugsy a new bed - a $25 model, paid for with their allowance, Fair said.
Fair still has no clear idea how Pugsy showed up in Roanoke.
A Roanoke man called The Roanoke Times back in May and claimed to be Pugsy's rightful owner. He said the Fairs had left Pugsy with him before heading to Germany.
The man said he and his family moved to Roanoke from Seattle early this year and brought Pugsy with them. Pugsy apparently wandered off and was picked up by an animal control officer and taken to the SPCA shelter.
The man said he called the shelter and found out he'd have to pay impoundment and boarding fees to get him back - up to $200.
Al Alexander, SPCA shelter director, said he told the man that if he came in and paid the fees, he could get Pugsy back. The man never showed up. Pugsy was Germany-bound.
"It's all still a mystery to me," Alexander said.
Making a military move overseas with a pet dog along can be difficult, Fair said. So, before she and her family moved from Fort Lewis to Germany, they left Pugsy with a friend. The friend was transferred and gave the dog to his ex-wife and her boyfriend.
Fair said the ex-wife and her boyfriend might have split up. The boyfriend might have taken Pugsy, she said.
"I don't know if it's true or not. I can't figure it out," Fair said. "You wonder how. You try to make sense of it."
The Fairs will be leaving Germany in 1998. Elizabeth Fair said she doesn't yet know where they'll be stationed.
But she knows where Pugsy will be staying during the move.
"I've already talked to my parents in Michigan, and they said they'll keep Pugsy," Fair said. "I 100 percent trust my parents."
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: File 1996. Pugsy, from Fort Lewis in Washington state,by CNBsomehow ended up in Roanoke this spring. color.