Home at Last : Odyssey Over, ‘Hobo’ Kisses Family Hello

It’s a cornball little heart-tugging story--kids lose loving dog, kids pray for his return, endless complications arise and at last kids and dog are joyously reunited.

But it’s not fiction, like “Lassie Comes Home” of film fame. It’s real: The dog’s name is Hobo, the kids’ names are Gabriel and Anna Yensen and the reunion took place this morning in Downey amid a great din of canine yelping and yipping and childish shouts and screeches of delight. Hobo is 5, Gabriel is 4 and Anna is 7.

“Gabriel,” said Joy Yensen, the children’s mother, “prayed every night. ‘God watch over Hobo.’ ”

The complicated story goes like this: Joy Yensen of Alhambra was walking Hobo near her home on New Year’s Day when, for reasons known only to the dog, he ran away.

The great complication was that Hobo was wearing only a red bandanna and a disk that read, “Dog Tag 175, Parksville. 1982.”

Donna and Charles Purnell of nearby South Pasadena found the handsome golden retriever not long afterward. They tried to find his owner, but who could know which of the many Parksvilles the retriever had come from? So they turned him over to Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control’s shelter in Downey.

Everyone at the shelter loved the affectionate, seemingly carefree retriever--they called him Rosebud.

The story got out, and the tale of the mystery dog flashed around the world on news wires and television.

Joy Yensen saw Hobo on television Thursday night. The dog had been given to her not long before by a couple from Parksville, Canada. This morning she claimed Hobo/Rosebud. The reunion was spectacular. And cornball and heart-tugging.

Even a few hardened news hounds choked up a bit as they watched Hobo cavort, chase a tennis ball and lick the faces of nearly everyone in sight--especially slobberingly kiss the faces of Gabriel, Anna and Joy Yensen.

Anna and Gabriel submitted graciously to questions from reporters.

“Did you cry when Hobo got lost?” one old news hound asked.

“No,” said Anna. “But Gabriel did.”

The truth-seeker turned to Gabriel: “Did you cry when Hobo got lost?”

“No,” said Gabriel.

“Anna says you did,” the reporter bored in.

“Anna,” said Gabriel, “lies.”