Rhode Island news
When Red Dog's owner was hospitalized a month ago, the dog went missing.
07:57 AM EDT on Friday, June 18, 2004
CRANSTON -- It took Robert Wayne Anderson 2 1/2 months to cross
the continent with his thumb in the air and a battered corduroy hat on
his head. He set out from Sacramento with the clothes on his back, a
container of dog food, and a red dog named Red Dog.
Their voyage ended along Sockanosset Cross Road, where Anderson decided
to make his home amid the parking lots and strip malls. He started
appearing along Pontiac and New London Avenues, with a timeworn
cardboard sign asking for food or work. The red dog was always with him.
Three years later, Anderson is without his companion for the first time.
Red Dog disappeared last month, when Anderson, 44, said he suffered from
a series of strokes and spent some time at Kent Hospital.
A friend went to one of Anderson's haunts, the former Rhode Island
Training School for Boys (Anderson calls it "the Hilton"). The dog, and
the dog food, were missing. Anderson suspects a thief.
Since then, Anderson has searched Cranston high and low. "I felt like I
was shot in the heart, dude," he said. "That dog was my buddy."
Once, he heard Red Dog was spotted on Park Avenue. Another time, he
heard the suspected thief had taken off to Pennsylvania. Anderson was
ready to hit the road and follow him. Then he heard the suspect was
still in Cranston.
Recently, a woman asked Anderson, "Don't you think he's in a better
place?"
"I looked at her and I said, 'No!' "
Years ago, when Anderson and Red Dog first appeared on the streets, the
animal shelter got calls from people worried about Red Dog's condition.
"The dog is always absolutely fine," Christy Burdick, an animal control
officer, said yesterday. "He loves the dog to death."
Since last month, Burdick said, she's been calling other animal shelters
to see if they came across Red Dog. The police are on the lookout, too,
Anderson said. Even the clerks at the gas stations have been following
Anderson's fortunes.
"We are so outraged that they stole Wayne's dog," said Ashley
D'Alessandro, of West Warwick, who sometimes gives Anderson a meal or a
few bucks.
Red Dog was a gift from a stranger in Sacramento, who told Anderson he
is a "Texas red-nose heeler." He is about 4 years old, rust-colored,
with a white nose, white paws, and white on the tip of his tail. He was
sporting a Cranston Animal Shelter tag when he disappeared.
If you have information about him, call the shelter at (401) 464-8700
Up at "the Hilton," Anderson has a 5-pound bag of dog food, awaiting Red
Dog's return.
Zachary R. Mider can be reached at 277-8068 or
zmider [at] projo.com
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