Letter: Grateful to Aspen community for finding our lost dog

Grateful to Aspen community for finding our lost dog

Our family is thrilled to let the townspeople of Aspen share in our good news — our beloved Thor was found this weekend in the Woody Creek area. He had been missing 15 days and frankly, we had pretty much lost hope that we would ever see our little dog again. How he survived is a mystery and a miracle, especially since several significant snow storms passed through Aspen during the time that Thor was missing. Thor took off late in the evening Dec. 12 from Burlingame. Our son, Michael, who is Thor’s dad, along with his girlfriend, Sam, and close friend, Brian, followed his tracks for days trying to find him. Somehow, Thor found the bridge to Cemetery Lane and was first seen near the Aspen Golf Course. Several days later, new sightings came from the Starwood community. A week later, Thor was spotted on Woody Creek Road. Our family had the good fortune of meeting several families who allowed us to comb their private properties in search of Thor. Happily, he was found this past Saturday by Jim, who lives in Woody Creek. He called Michael to say he had Thor.

We would like to sincerely thank the people of Aspen who helped Michael in his search for Thor, especially the following: Jim, who found Thor; Erin, Aspen deputy sheriff; ReRe, Aspen Animal Control; dispatch officers at the Pitkin County Police; the staff at the Aspen Animal Shelter; Patrick Keelty, of Keelty Construction, along with Brian Kubica, Brandon Ford and Tory Heinrich; Kasi at Colorado Parks and Wildlife; the staff at Colorado Animal Rescue; announcers at KSNO Radio, KSPN Radio, KMTS Radio, KAJX Aspen Public Radio; Max at The Aspen Times; Ross at the Aspen Daily News; plus the families of Beaver Run Ranch and Circle R Ranch and everyone in the Lenado area. All of these wonderful folks helped us search for Thor, and words cannot express our sincere thanks for their collective efforts to find him.

Thor is now back at home with Michael and Sam. After a thorough check by the veterinarians at the Aspen Animal Shelter, Thor was pronounced to be in good shape, although there is a little less of him to love! He lost 15 pounds during his wilderness adventure, which is about one-third of his body weight.

More than one person said to me, “Aspen is a town that loves dogs.” For that, the Charles family is forever grateful.

Rich and Joanne Charles and family

Littleton