Happy Ending to a Doggone Good Tale

A family dog that two years ago slipped through a fence and never came home was found safe and sound Saturday by its former owner, who walked into a Glendale junk shop and happened to spot the mixed-breed terrier named Maggie out back, playing with a panhandler.

“She looked at me, sniffed me and then jumped all over me,” said Thomas Ritter of Glassell Park. “I knew then that it was her, without a shadow of a doubt.”

After paying the transient $10, Ritter took Maggie to a veterinarian for shots, and then brought her home as an early, unexpected birthday present for his daughter.

Amy Ritter, who turns 10 on Wednesday, burst into tears upon seeing her long-lost dog, which recognized her and ran into her waiting arms.

“All I could do was just stare at her,” said Amy. “I didn’t know what to think.”

Although the Ritters had bought Amy a new dog after Maggie was lost, she still cried every time the dog’s name was mentioned.

“She never got over it,” said her father. “So every time someone says they saw a ‘Benji-type’ dog, which is just what Maggie looked like, I have to check it out.”

This time, to his astonishment, Ritter found the proverbial needle in the haystack. Although a bit skeptical at first, his hopes were confirmed when he found a BB pellet embedded in the dog’s neck--an injury Maggie received before the Ritters bought her several years ago.

Victor Elliott, a neighbor, also said he was certain the Ritter’s dog had returned. “It’s kind of amazing,” he said. “In a county this large, it’s one in 2 million to find a dog like that, I’d imagine. It’s like winning the lottery.”