
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992                   TAG: 9203050210
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: JACK CHAMBERLAIN
DATELINE: MCCOY                                LENGTH: Short

RETURN FOXES, DOG; THEY'RE NO GOOD AS PETS

Two arctic foxes - which make lousy pets and can't survive in the wild - and a pet dog who needs daily medication have been stolen from the Montgomery County Humane Society shelter.

Shelter Director Chris Bach said the young foxes and an elderly Pekingese were stolen Monday afternoon from cages inside an unlocked fenced area.

The shelter, in a remote northwest area of the county, is closed on Sundays and Mondays.

The 11-month-old foxes, which were bought from a Blacksburg pet shop, were given to the shelter last May when the owner discovered that they didn't make good pets, Bach said.

One fox is silver, the other reddish-brown. Both are males.

Although they are not good pets, Bach said that the foxes could not survive on their own because they are domesticated.

Bach feared that they will be killed by dogs or hunters or that they'll starve if they are not recovered quickly.

The Pekingese, a spayed female, is the pet of a shelter worker and lived at the shelter, Bach said. It is blond with a black face.

The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office is investigating and a reward is offered for information leading to the recovery of the animals, Bach said.

by CNB