Lost Labrador Still Loose In Sand Hill Plaza Area

By Kendra Bobowick

Sandy Morici turned up Bryan Lane on August 23 and saw a white streak run across the road.

“I was going home and I saw a fast flash go from the woods on one side to the woods on the other,” she said. Joking that the animal could have been a white deer, she has “no doubt” that she had just spotted Harpo, a yellow lab — more white in color — who had escaped his owner Gail Giordano from the parking lot of Your Healthy Pet on the corner on July 24.

“He was beautiful, but it was just a flash,” said Ms Morici. “He looked okay, and he could run!”

Harpo is 10 months old and had been with Ms Giordano for only five weeks, in which time she learned that he was timid, and not fully socialized with people. His owner and a growing group of volunteer searchers and supporters were thankful this week to learn that Ms Morici had seen him. They have traps and a plan in place to get him home. Your Healthy Pet owner Mary Kay Novak, her husband Tom, and son Ryan have all extended their help. “We keep hearing of people spotting him,” she said. “I wish he would surrender.”

She said, “We’re hoping it’s not much longer.”

Harpo’s picture is posted on the front door of the store, which is at the corner of Main Street South and Bryan Lane just north of Sandy Hill Plaza.

As time passes, however, Ms Giordano’s worry has grown.

“I worry about his ability to survive. It’s so close to Route 25,” she said. Thinking more hopefully, however, she said, “He has survived a month out there.”

Newtown resident Jodi Bialik, volunteer for Labs 4 Rescue, the organization through which Ms Giordano adopted Harpo, is also worried about him.

“He has been loose for a month and I worry about coyotes and cars,” Ms Bialik said this week. But recent news that large traps are strategically set, and that people have seen him frequently, including one Kay Lane residence where he has appeared regularly, boost her spirits. “Let’s hope we’re on the home stretch.”

Do Not Feed, Do Not Approach

Traps are set, and volunteers ask that people not feed Harpo, so that Harpo is drawn to the food in the traps. Do not approach him, urges Assistant Animal Control Officer Matt Schaub. Already skittish, the dog “will just run,” said Mr Schaub, who also hopes that “a right time comes,” and Harpo will be successfully trapped. Ms Giordano knows that Harpo is often fed at the Kay Lane residence, where one large trap is set.

“I wanted to express my heartfelt gratitude for the compassionate strangers who have stepped forward and volunteered to assist in manning of the traps and reported sightings. Without them I would not have been able to keep the month-long operation of trying to trap Harpo,” Ms Giordano said via email.

“Reports of Harpo’s sightings are essential in our continued efforts of trapping him, so we may isolate the area he is in and plant the traps accordingly [noting time, date, and location he was last seen],” her note continued. “It should also be noted Harpo is a timid dog and is afraid of people, therefore do not chase him.”

Resident Karlyn Sturmer is an animal advocate and volunteer in this search, who is impressed with both Ms Giordano’s and Ryan Novak’s efforts to trap Harpo. The medium traps may not be large enough for the job, and larger traps are either on their way or in place as of this week.

“If this doesn’t work, we’ll try another method,” she said. Enclosures or other approaches may be the answer, she said. “We’ll eventually get him.”

Ms Giordano adopted Harpo after he was rescued, along with siblings, from Georgia.

From the start, “I knew he was different; I knew on the very first day,” she said. After he had been with her a short time, she knew his problem was more than making a transition into a new home after a long journey to arrive in Connecticut. “I was bringing him to a behavioralist to get him through the anxiety,” she said, but he got away. Harpo does not respond to his name, she said.

“I haven’t slept in a month,” she said. “You bring the dogs here for a better life, and this is the last thing you imagine happening.”

Contact Newtown Animal Control at 203-429-6900 or Ms Giordano at 203-241-9534 if you see Harpo or have additional information that may lead to his rescue.