Looking for his home

Torus Tammer

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- He is a 3-year-old English sheep dog; they call

him Sam for now. His real name remains unknown, as does the mystery of

his journey.

Sam was found and delivered to the South Los Angeles Animal Shelter

about two weeks ago, but the dog was originally found in Huntington

Beach, shelter worker Jesus Castillo said.

“The person that dropped off the dog said they had held on to it for a

month after finding it roaming in Huntington Beach,” Castillo said. “I

then called the Orange County Animal Care Center in Santa Ana, and they

came over the next day and took the dog back with them.”Kathy Francis,

the Orange County Animal Care Center’s public education officer, is

trying to find Sam’s home.

“He’s an expensive dog who is extremely well-behaved,” Francis said.

The center, which has had Sam for close to two weeks, said policy

usually dictates the rules for boarding. Stray animals found without

identification are ordinarily held for four days before they are put up

for adoption. Animals found with identification stay for seven days

before they can be adopted.

Although he has no identification, shelter operators still hope to

reunite Sam with his owner.

“He’s not a very common breed in this area,” Francis said. “We know

he has an owner because he’s very well-trained. He loves to play ball and

walks well on a leash.”

Primarily, the center deals with domestic animals and had 35,000 of

them come through their gates last year.

The center provides 24-hour service to their 21 contract cities within

Orange County. They also maintain a database of all pets licensed within

the county.

Francis said she has searched the database for owners with licensed

sheep dogs in the Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley area and

throughout Orange County. No matches were found. Sam has also been

featured on the center’s Web site at o7 https://www.ocpetinfo.comf7 ,

but still no luck.

Francis said all avenues have been exhausted and her last option is to

ask for public help.

“He has a home somewhere. I’m sure that the owner has shown him off in

public, so maybe someone will recognize him,” Francis said. “He is

already spoken for if no one claims him by Oct. 27. At that point, we

would have no choice but to adopt him out to the person who already has

the claim on him.”

FYI

For more information about Sam, call (714) 935-6301.