HERMITAGE, Pa. (WKBN) – One family in Hermitage is grateful to have their dog home for the holidays.
Their family pup Huck was gone for nearly a week before finally returning home. They thank the community for their help in finding their beloved dog.
His owner Courtney Ivan is known to the community as a humane officer for the Mercer County Humane Society.
She says that her dogs all had gotten out through a broken panel in their fence. Two of the dogs returned. Huck did not.
Fast forward six days, and Huck was back home after a long journey.
The Ivan home is off of Spangler Road near the I-80 interchange. He was found near the intersection of Keel Ridge Road and East State Street, a whopping 4 miles from his home.
An off duty Hermitage police officer spotted Huck and immediately called the family to the field.
“What I was told to do was just sit in the field and we had one of our other dogs with us and I saw it was him and you know he just wasn’t acting like his normal self because they go into a survival mode and she had told me they would do that,” said Courtney Ivan, Huck’s owner.
Courtney said after a few minutes and some exchanged growls between the two dogs, Huck came to her.
She said it was emotional of course. She held his collar tight because she was not about to let him go.
Pet Recovery of Centre County in Central Pa. provided lots of guidance throughout the week.
It took patience.
To say the family was relieved is an understatement.
Ivan’s job allows her to help people find lost pets all the time. It was humbling to be on the other side and watch the community step up for them.
“It’s different to be on the other side of the fence. I mean, things happen no matter what. No matter who you are. You know, I’m a humane agent and here’s my dog running for six days. But it shows that it doesn’t matter how safe you are. Sometimes accidents happen. The response was incredible to see how many people wanted to help my dog,” said Courtney Ivan, Huck’s owner.
Ivan says her hope is that the community will continue to show that support to other dogs and their families when accidents happen.
And it was quite the effort too, her initial Facebook post where she shared updates was shared more than 2,500 times.
The family says they learned a lot from the experience.
