SALEM, Ore. — Everyone wants to know where Sara’s been, but Sara isn’t saying.
There are a number of possible scenarios that could explain how the border collie/Australian shepherd mix — who went missing in Aumsville in the spring of 2010 — turned up in Utah three summers later.
Did she walk? It certainly is possible. There are plenty of accounts of dogs’ crossing state lines.
A more likely possibility is that Sara was picked up by a trucker or a new family who later moved to Utah. Regardless of where the pup has been or how she got there, Sara is finally home.
She’s the same dog her family knew nearly three years ago; she has the same mischievous brown eyes and what can only be described as a sweet smile on her muzzle.
Kristin Riccitti was at home in Aumsville when the phone rang.
She answered. It was Natasha Busboom, a veterinary technician in Kearns, Utah.
“She asked if I had a dog named Sara,” Riccitti said. “I had to think for a minute. It was an out-of-the-blue phone call.”
After the initial shock wore off, Riccitti burst into the room where her husband, Marcus Riccitti, was napping and said over and over again: “You’re never going to believe this!”
Sara, their dog who had gone missing nearly three years ago, had been spotted Aug. 18 wandering through a far-flung canyon near Kearns. She was brought to West Lake Veterinary Hospital, where Busboom scanned the black-and-white pup for a microchip and a number popped up.
She described the dog, who was without a collar, as playful, loving and overweight.
The clinic waived the kennel fee and waited for instructions for Sara’s return to Oregon.
Though elated at the news of her recovery, the Riccittis were worried about the costs of bringing her home. Eight hours after Kristin received the news that Sara had been found, a stranger offered to drive Sara to Oregon.
The Riccittis picked her up at a park in Troutdale and joyfully took her home.
