St. Pete Travel Agent Reroutes Atlanta Dog

Pepper the golden retriever went missing just before Christmas from his Atlanta home and showed up last week in front of a travel agency in St. Petersburg.

That's more than nine months on the lam.

A microchip in his neck led to a reunion Friday with his owner, who had Pepper for more than five years and had accepted that he was gone. Elizabeth Carter got another golden retriever from an Atlanta rescue group to ease the loss.

Pepper's journey started in December, when Carter and her family went to Mexico and left Pepper with a dog sitter. The retriever ran away when someone set off firecrackers and startled him.

Jay Getman, who works at 66th Street Travel, spotted Pepper a week ago outside the business, looking pathetic in a thunderstorm.

"He was just soaking wet, filthy, dirty, flea infested," Getman said Monday.

Getman had gotten a golden retriever from a rescue organization a few weeks ago, and his heart went out to the drenched pooch.

Armed with treats, Getman coaxed Pepper into the office. He called animal services, but it would have taken an hour or more for an officer to get there, so Getman took Pepper home.

"I brought the dog home and spent hours and hours getting it cleaned up," Getman said. "It had definitely been neglected.

"He hadn't eaten." Getman said. "He gained 3 pounds in the four days I had him."

Getman hesitated to call animal services because he didn't want the dog to be reunited with owners he thought might be neglectful.

He roamed neighborhoods looking for posters of missing dogs. Then he took the dog to a nearby veterinarian who scanned the canine for a microchip.

On Thursday, part of Pepper's story emerged. He had owners in Atlanta, and the chip revealed names and contact information.

On Thursday night, Getman, who was becoming attached to the dog, called Atlanta.

Liz Carter answered.

"I asked, 'Do you have a dog named Pepper,'" and she said she did, but that she lost him in December.

"'I have your dog,'" Getman told her. "She was blown away. She couldn't believe it."

Friday morning, she hopped into her car and headed to St. Petersburg, Getman said. By early Friday night, Pepper and Carter were reunited.

Although he became attached to the dog, and vice versa, Getman said he was happy he had found the owner.

The tale of how Pepper got from Atlanta to St. Petersburg remains a mystery.

Getman surmises someone found the dog in Atlanta and drove it to Florida.

"Its nails were really long," he said. "It's not like it ran down here."