AR-News: (FL - US) Kindness of stranger leads dog to owners

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Kindness of stranger leads dog to owners
Beaujangles ran onto I-75 after its owners' traffic accident. David Merritt coaxed him to safety.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer
Published March 27, 2004

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[Special to the Times]
Beaujangles ran away from the wreckage after his owners' motor home collided with an oncoming truck in Pasco County on March 15, but construction worker David Merritt found and rescued him. 
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DADE CITY - David Merritt has a way with dogs. So when a fluffy white Eskimo named Spitz ran away from its owners' wrecked motor home straight for highway traffic, Merritt took action.

Merritt, 30, had been sitting in traffic heading to work on State Road 52 on the east side of Interstate 75 on March 15 when the motor home collided with an oncoming truck.

Merritt ran over to the wreckage to see if there was something he could do, he later said. With emergency personnel soon crawling all over the scene, he went to the Flying J Travel Plaza at the corner to get a cup of coffee.

That's when a woman told him that the white dog he had seen running in the street had come from the motor home and had run up the exit ramp toward I-75.

Coffee cup in hand, Merritt crossed the road and walked up the northbound exit ramp after the dog.

"He was just sitting right there as you get ready to come off (the interstate) onto the ramp," said Merritt, a Dade City construction worker. "He looked real confused about what was going on."

As the people in the motor home were being flown to a Tampa hospital, Merritt dropped to his knees and called to the dog.

"He didn't want to come to me with that (the coffee) in my hand," he said. "So I put that down and said, "Here, puppy.' "

Merritt stood and the dog ran. Merritt knelt again. The dog turned around and walked over to him. Merritt stood, and the two walked side by side back down the ramp to the scene of the accident, he said. There Merritt grabbed a leash from paramedics and held the dog until Pasco County Animal Control workers arrived.

The children of the couple injured in the accident have been looking for Merritt all week.

The motor home's passenger, Delinda Campbell, 68, of New Hampshire, remained in critical condition Friday at St. Joseph's Hospital. Her husband, the driver and a retired fire chief, 70-year-old Warren Campbell, was in fair condition at the hospital.

Earlier this week, the Times published a phone number of the Campbells' friends in Port Richey. They were trying to find the man who rescued the dog, whose name is Beaujangles.

Since then, the Florida Highway Patrol released Merritt's name and phone number. When a reporter contacted him, Merritt said he had not seen the story. His first question was about the welfare of Mrs. Campbell.

Merritt said he decided to go after the dog because he knew the driver would probably be okay and would want the dog back.

"Plus, I didn't want to see the animal itself become homeless," said Merritt, also a dog owner.

Campbell family friend Linda Ferguson and her husband, Sam, of Port Richey picked up Beaujangles from an animal hospital after Animal Control brought him there to be checked.

She was excited to hear about Merritt and said the Campbells' children plan to call him and express their gratitude.

"(Beaujangles) could have been injured or caused another accident," Ferguson said. "They really appreciate this."

One of the Campbells' daughters, 47-year-old Roxie Johnston, said the couple's five children and her father are grateful to Merritt.

"My dad absolutely adored that dog," she said. "My dad's going through a hard time" because her mother is in such critical condition, "but at least he has the dog to keep him company."

[Last modified March 27, 2004, 02:10:29]