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Have you seen my owners?
Friendly yellow lab can't find his family

by Dolores Fox Ciardelli

Cathy Panconi spotted an 80-pound yellow lab with no collar wandering around Sycamore Valley Elementary School around 4 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 25, so she approached him to help. He was so beautiful and friendly that she was sure it would be easy to find his owner. More than a week later, she's beginning to wonder whether he was abandoned.

"I have placed posts on craigslist as well as listed him at the Dublin shelter and the Martinez shelter," she e-mailed Monday. "I have also called local vets and let them know of this found dog."

The dog, dubbed "Buddy" by her children Benjamin and Ali, is a neutered male, with no collar or microchip.

Panconi even took him for a walk on the Iron Horse Trail with a sign on his neck saying, "I'm lost. Do you know where I live?"

"People were upset and could not believe that three days had passed and there was no claim of the dog," Panconi said. "There were many suggestions to hang notes on the trail.

"It definitely was not a power walk that morning," she continued. "It was a lot of talking and dog socialization for Buddy the happy dog."

Now she is wondering if Buddy was abandoned by people who could no longer afford to give him a home.

"Do you think people just don't know how to find a lost dog?" she asked. "Because labs can travel for miles, they may never see the signs posted in the neighborhood in which he was found. Could it be someone that does not have access to the Internet?"

She says Buddy is well behaved and has made himself at home. She has friends who are willing to give him a permanent home but is still hoping his family will call to reclaim him. And she hopes people are aware of the importance of microchipping their pets, and checking with the shelters if one is lost.

Anyone missing a big friendly yellow lab, can call Cathy Panconi at 336-6448.