Ok, So Holy Crap!!!

From TBO.com

TAMPA - If Pepper could only talk. What a story he could tell.

The golden retriever went missing just before Christmas from his Atlanta home and showed up last week in front of a travel agency in St. Petersburg.

That's more than nine months on the lam.

The microchip in the dog's neck told enough to get him reunited with his owner, who had the pup for more than five years and had resigned herself to the fact that he was gone. Elizabeth Carter had gotten another golden retriever from an Atlanta rescue group to ease the loss of the longtime family pet.

It was December when Carter and her family went to Mexico and left Pepper with a dog sitter. The retriever escaped from the sitter when someone nearby set off some firecrackers and startled him, said Jay Getman, who rescued Pepper from a West Central Florida thunderstorm a week ago today.

Getman, who works at 66th Street Travel, spotted Pepper outside the business, looking pathetic in the rain.

"He was just soaking wet, filthy, dirty, flea infested," Getman said this morning.

Getman got a golden retriever from a rescue organization a few weeks ago, and his heart went out to the drenched pooch.

Armed with treats, Getman coaxed Pepper into the office. He called animal services, but it would have taken an hour or more for an officer to get there, so Getman took Pepper home.

"I brought the dog home and spent hours and hours getting it cleaned up," Getman said. "It had definitely been neglected.

"He hadn't eaten." Getman said. "He gained 3 pounds in the four days I had him. Getman hesitated to call animal services because he didn't want the dog to be reunited with owners he thought might be neglectful.

He roamed the neighborhoods looking for posters of missing dogs. Even Tammy the mail lady was looking, he said. Then he took the dog to a nearby veterinarian who scanned the canine for a microchip.

On Thursday, part of Pepper's story emerged. He had owners in Atlanta, and the chip revealed names and contact information.

On Thursday night, Getman, who was becoming attached to the dog, called.

Liz Carter answered.

"I asked, 'Do you have a dog named Pepper,' "and she said she did, but that she lost him in December.

" 'I have your dog,' " Getman told her. "She was blown away. She couldn't believe it."

Friday morning, she hopped in her car and headed to St. Petersburg, Getman said. By early Friday night, Pepper and Carter were reunited.

Although he became attached to the dog, and vice versa, Getman said he was happy he had found his owner.

The tale of how Pepper got from Atlanta to St. Petersburg probably will forever remain a mystery.

Getman surmises someone found the dog in Atlanta and drove it to St. Pete.

"It's nails were really long," he said. "It's not like it ran down here."