Once was lost, but now he's found: Long-gone dog comes home

By DEBORAH OAKLEY Staff Writer

Published on October 24, 2008

When Rocky returned home last Sunday, he hustled over to his little blue kennel, curled up inside, heaved a big sigh and went to sleep.

All was just dandy in his world, but the Hatt family had some decompressing to do after two frantic months of searching for their beloved Australian cattle dog.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Lorne Hatt, Mary's husband, who was home when Rocky showed up in the yard.

He phoned his wife and daughter, Maylin Crouss, who were out of town. When Mary answered, Lorne said, "Do you believe in miracles?"

It was one of those crazy, drenching days, Aug 17 to be exact, when Hatt, 46, of Pelham, was walking with Rocky, 3, and his sidekick Molly, 5, a mixed-breed retriever, up to their house from the family's fenced-in yard. They were slogging in a downpour, when Rocky and Molly suddenly stopped, stared into the woods and then, just like that, took off.

Mary Hatt called for them repeatedly throughout the night. Molly returned the next morning, alone.

"She was sullen. She knew (Rocky) was gone," Hatt said. Hatt said she couldn't understand why Rocky, of all dogs, would take off. "He's unusual for (an unneutered male)," Hatt said. "He's such a timid, quiet dog."

One reason for that, she suspects, is that he lived his early life confined to a kennel in North Carolina, until Lorne Hatt bought him. He's officially the dog of Maylin, 17.

Comprehensive search

The Hatt family set about looking for Rocky.

"I was a complete wreck," Mary Hatt said. She saddled up one of her horses, and rode the nearby streets and into the woods with Molly along, hoping to leave a familiar scent for Rocky. She did the same thing several days later.

She posted fliers in Pelham, Amherst and beyond, including at local animal shelters, veterinarinans' offices and other places of business. An employee of Amherst Post Office, Hatt had a built-in search network, enlisting colleagues to keep their eyes peeled while on their routes.

The fliers brought quick response. Phone calls started coming in, "a bazillion calls," Hatt said, from people who thought they had spotted the wayward canine. Lorne and Mary followed up every tip, Mary Hatt said, even when it meant taking time off work.

"We logged a lot of miles," said Lorne, 59, who is semi-retired.

Rocky was out there somewhere. The Hatts knew it, and Amherst Animal Welfare Officer Carol Hepburn knew it. Mary Hatt had phoned animal welfare officers from several towns. Hepburn was the first to call her back.

Sixth sense'

"I just have a sixth sense about these things," said Hepburn, 65, an eight-year veteran of the job. "The first thing most people do is think the worst. I always think the best. And then, if the animal has met its demise, I always believe that it happened quickly and that the animal is in a better place. As far as Rocky is concerned, I felt he was never far from home. It sounds crazy, but I usually know if a dog from another town is in my area. I told her, I think your dog is alive.'"

Several weeks passed with no sign of Rocky. Hatt learned of a Web site, findtoto.com, and used it to broaden the couple's efforts. For $80, the site will blanket a prescribed area with phone calls seeking information about the pet. Hatt paid the money, then paid it again when she received a tip that Rocky had been seen in a different area than the one she had targeted.

Meanwhile, Rocky had left behind not only his human family and Molly, but several horses including Lehdee Bugh, a 40-year-old Morgan, a few cats including Baby, and fellow canines Annie, Spike and puppies Velma, Tide and Rocksanne, whom Rocky sired with Lexi, another of the family's Australian cattle dogs.

Like sand in the hourglass

A month passed. Then two. "I had just said to someone a couple of days ago, 'I've about given up,'" Lorne Hatt said.

Then, on Sunday, Rocky came home.

"I cried. Everyone cried," Mary Hatt said. "He was, oh my God, he looked good! He was covered with ticks, but he seemed OK. Someone must have been feeding him."

Hatt took him to Pelham veterinarian Debora Lichtenberg Wednesday to have him checked out.

"This crazy dog looks so great," Lichtenberg said of Rocky. "He was covered with fleas and ticks, but otherwise he seemed fine."

Lichtenberg took the precautionary measure of testing Rocky for several possible ailments he might have picked up, such as Lyme disease and heartworm. Then she sent him home.

As Lorne and Mary Hatt recounted their experience, they repeatedly expressed gratitude to the community for its outpouring of concern and support. "I was amazed at the amount of phone calls, people being concerned," Lorne Hatt said.

Meanwhile, for animal welfare officer Hepburn, the news was joyful, but not unexpected. "I was ecstatic," she said. "But I knew he would come home."

Asked what advice she would give people whose pets go missing, Hepburn said, "I would tell them to call Mary and do exactly what she did. She was beyond belief."