A doggone good tale

COEUR d’ALENE — Julie Arthur was at 12th and Greensferry Road when the white car in a driveway caught her eye. She watched as a man got behind the wheel.

“I couldn’t quite see what was on the other side,” Arthur said. “But I felt like something was not quite right.”

As the man drove away on a Friday afternoon, she saw a small, black dog still standing there, and it began to run after the car.

Arthur couldn’t believe it and yelled at the driver.

“Hey dude, your dog is chasing you,” she shouted.

The driver didn't look back.

Arthur said she couldn’t leave the dog on a busy street on a 90-degree day, so she pulled up, opened the door of her truck and called to it. The dog ran up and hopped in.

“She literally just ran right into my arms,” Arthur said “It was something else. Her eyes were huge, she was so confused.”

She took it to her Oldtown home. Because the dog, about a year old, seemed healthy and well behaved, Arthur posted messages on social media to try and find its owner.

Responses came.

She heard stories about the dog, who owned it and how it ended up where it did. She said she also heard from someone who said they were the owner, didn’t have a lot of time for the dog and generally kept it in a kennel.

“I didn’t want her to go back to that kind of life,” Arthur said.

After some discussions, it was agreed Arthur could keep the dog.

“Lola,” as it is now named, joined a large family with four other dogs.

“She’s welcome to stay here forever,” Arthur said.

Stories about abandoned dogs are not unusual.

They have been left tied up in yards, let out of vehicles on rural roads and dropped off at the doors of the Kootenai Humane Society. They have been dumped off in snow, rain and heat.

Last year, more than 50 dogs were left in a Silver Valley home.

"We have many stories of animal abandonment,” wrote Vicky Nelson, KHS development director.

Abandoning an animal could lead to an animal cruelty charge, a misdemeanor in Idaho.

Rising rents have forced some people to surrender pets in order to find a home. Last month, SpokAnimal shelter in Spokane was overcrowded with dogs.

“We obviously are seeing a lot of folks that are losing their housing. They’re moving back in with their family, friends,” Executive Director Dori Peck told KXLY. “A lot of large dogs can’t go with them. So, we’re seeing a lot of large dog intakes."

Lola, a shepherd/collie mix, has been a good fit, Arthur said, and gets along well with the other dogs.

"She needs playmates," she said.

But she does have a problem with separation anxiety and is little high strung if left alone.

“She tears apart your house while you’re gone,” Arthur said, laughing. "We just keep working on that."

Arthur, who grew up on a farm in Post Falls, said she's long been an animal person.

She wasn’t sure of the reaction of her husband or mom to having yet another dog in the home, but both were supportive after hearing Lola’s story.

“They totally were on my side,” she said.

And Lola has her back.