Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506200024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: VIRGINIA EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Wilsons are in a Harry situation.
Harry's a tick-ridden dog that wandered into the family's Southeast Roanoke yard a month ago and won't go away.
Barbara Wilson and her three sons have tried everything.
They took him to the Roanoke Valley SPCA - just for a tick treatment. On the way to his bath, Harry flew through an open door at the shelter and was back on the Wilsons' porch in a few hours.
They advertised in the newspaper for somebody to take him. A man came, put a collar on Harry and drove him to Vinton. Harry bolted when somebody opened the man's front door. By morning, Harry was back at the Wilsons' again.
Barbara Wilson's a sucker for strays. During a 1993 blizzard, she took in a dachshund with five dachshund/Labrador puppies. She kept one, Baby Booger Bubba Bear ("Doofus," for short), and found homes for the rest.
But Wilson's a single mother with a small house and enough mouths to feed already. Besides her boys, Freddie, Andy and Ben, she has Doofus, another dog and a bunch of kids she baby-sits.
Harry can't stand for them to go anywhere without him.
He chases their car and jumps onto the trunk when they won't let him ride.
He's devoted to Freddie, 14, and tries to play basketball with him, irritating the heck out of Freddie's buddies.
"Yeah," says Barbara, "Freddie can't go anywhere without that dog."
"I'd keep him in a heartbeat," says Freddie.
Freddie and Barbara think Harry was abused. He runs at the sight of a cigarette lighter or a gun of any kind, even a water pistol.
Most recently, Barbara Wilson put an ad in the Valley Trading Post. It said: "Harry needs a good home. He's a collie mix who loves kids, is a devoted companion and has an incredible story to go with him."
Two days later, Harry went limp. He couldn't stand or walk.
The SPCA led the cash-strapped Wilson to a Troutville veterinarian, Dr. James D. Carter, who agreed to help the dog and let Wilson pay over time.
It turned out that although Harry finally got that flea-and-tick bath at the SPCA, he'd apparently contracted tick fever already and was partially paralyzed.
He's on antibiotics now, running around and still stuck like glue to Freddie.
Last Saturday, Barbara Wilson was driving the kids to see a friend and outsped Harry within a few blocks. He wasn't home when they returned. A storm came up, and Barbara worried. Harry's frightened of thunder.
"My friend said, 'You're so fickle. You want to get rid of this dog, but every time he takes off, you worry about him.'''
Barbara drove around Southeast Roanoke. She found Harry in the doorway of the Rescue Mission of Roanoke.
No one ever answered the Trading Post ad.
Barbara says anyone who wants a really great dog can call her at 344-4017.
But expect to be grilled like a nominee for the Supreme Court. She wants somebody who'll take the best possible care of Harry and "overwhelm him with affection."
Someone who'll keep Harry confined long enough to convince him he's as loved as he was at the Wilsons.
Otherwise, he'll just wind up back on their porch.
by CNB