ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996                  TAG: 9606210045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER 

IT'S ABOUT DOGGONE TIME: PUGSY FLIES HOME AT LAST

Pugsy's home.

He flew coach, not cargo.

And not alone, but with his owner.

Two Roanoke Valley SPCA shelter employees drove the 7-year-old pug up to Dulles International Airport on Sunday. There, the dog was reunited with U.S. Army 1st Lt. Elizabeth Fair, who had arrived from Frankfurt, Germany, on a military flight to take him home.

Al Alexander, SPCA shelter director, said Fair phoned Monday from Germany to report that Pugsy had safely endured the overnight Delta Airlines flight. There was concern that he would not survive the flight caged in a cargo bin, Alexander said. Delta had agreed to let him fly in the passenger cabin as long as someone accompanied him.

Pugsy's saga has been a series of twists and turns, mysteries and revelations.

An animal control officer brought him to the SPCA shelter in April. He had been wandering about freely, wearing tags bearing the name of an Army post in the state of Washington - Fort Lewis.

Alexander tracked down Pugsy's registered owners through the Fort Lewis veterinarian. The dog was registered to Randy Fair, an Army officer who had been transferred to Frankfurt in January of last year. He left behind his wife, Elizabeth, their three sons - and Pugsy. Elizabeth and the boys joined Fair six months later but left Pugsy in the care of a soldier who had worked with Elizabeth.

The Fairs had planned to send for Pugsy later. But the soldier moved to Roanoke six months ago, unbeknownst to the Fairs, who had been trying to locate him. The soldier brought Pugsy with him.

The soldier called The Roanoke Times after news of Pugsy surfaced. The soldier, who did not give his name, said Pugsy had run off one afternoon.

The soldier claimed he was the rightful owner, but would give the dog up rather than pay the necessary fees and fines to get him back.

So Pugsy was Germany-bound.

Alexander said he wonders what would have happened had Pugsy not been wearing any tags. He urged people to I.D. their pets in some way - with tags, tatoos or microchip implants.

"If there's a tag on them, I can trace the animal down and get them back home," he said.

Donations to the SPCA campaign to send Pugsy to Germany covered Fair's $432 plane ticket back to Frankfurt, Alexander said. Another $100 covered Pugsy's air fare.

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