ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996                   TAG: 9605280056
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: A1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER

WAYWARD CANINE WILL BE BACK WITH HIS OWNER SOON NOTE: BELOW

"Pugsy," the Fort Lewis, Wash., pug who mysteriously made his way to Roanoke, will be reunited soon with his owner in Germany.

Debra Flanary, office manager at the Roanoke Valley SPCA shelter, said the organization has received enough donations - about 40 total - to fly Pugsy to the Army post in Frankfurt, Germany, where his owner, Randy Fair, is stationed.

The SPCA actually received more than the $432 needed to cover Pugsy's air fare, Flanary said.

"We're trying to contact people as their donations come in to see if they want donations returned or put to another cause here," she said.

Last month, an animal control officer brought Pugsy to the SPCA shelter. He was wearing tags that alerted shelter staff where he'd received his last rabies shots - Fort Lewis.

Staff tracked down Fair with the help of a veterinarian at Fort Lewis and the office of Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

Pugsy is being kept at the Vinton Veterinary Hospital to ensure he stays healthy before his overseas journey. His exact departure date has not been set but should be within two weeks, Flanary said.

SPCA shelter staff members still are perplexed as to how Pugsy wound up in Roanoke.

The last the SPCA heard, Fair had left Pugsy with friends at Fort Lewis before his transfer to Germany a year ago. Fair had planned to send for Pugsy once he could afford it.

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