Runaway Ronnie

Eileen Eddie walked into the Wahkiakum County Eagle’s office with her daughter to place an ad, the subject, a 15-pound black and white poodle mix named Ronnie. A worried Eileen was now facing every pet owner’s nightmare: her sweet boy had run off and was now missing. Heartbroken but unwilling to give up on her pup, Eileen looked to her community for help and several business owners allowed her to put up lost signs on their windows and doors while others shared on social media, including local animal advocates group WAAG. After a couple of weeks, it seemed like Ronnie might not come home but his faithful owner was not ready to give up. She never gave up hope or stopped looking for him. Eileen continued posting signs in businesses and posted another ad in the Wahkiakum County Eagle.

Thanks to Dollar General, Eileen was able to place a missing poster in a prime spot and, perfectly in view for Chris Mendez. Then Chris, the man of the hour, noticed the sweet-looking dog on the poster and then continued on to what he assumed would be a regular day; little did he know, he was about to meet the small escapee in person. After glancing at the poster, Chris walked over to the Shell and that’s when he caught sight of what looked like the little poodle mix on the lost sign, and he was running right toward the busy road. Mendez took action, yelling for the people in the store to go ahead and call the number from the poster as he took off to try to catch the small dog, who was surprisingly quick for his size. Chris continued the chase down Route 4 where Ronnie had stopped traffic. With help, Mendez was able to eventually catch the frightened pup. After receiving word that Ronnie had been found and was safe, Eileen was joyfully reunited with her precious pet. She and her family are incredibly grateful to Chris, “He was really a great guy for doing all that.”

Now that he’s no longer living out his wild dog dreams, Ronnie spends his days lazing on the couch and ringing his bell when he’s ready for a walk, “We are so happy that he’s back, and relieved.” Eileen went on to express her awe at her community, “Everybody was so worried about him, and the people of Cathlamet were so nice, ya know, they kept asking how he was. Neighbors that I didn’t even know would ask if we’d found Ronnie and our other neighbors here are also happy that we found Ronnie.” Ronnie was missing for some time, without food, water, or shelter in some of the warmest days of June. His tale of survival is impressive for such a small dog, Eileen reflects on the incident “It was really kind of a miracle because he had been gone for so long, 3 weeks, for a little, tiny dog.” Now that Ronnie’s runaway adventure is at an end, his friends at the Eagle are glad that he’s safe.