Dog Found In Middletown 80 Miles From Northwest New Jersey Home

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — How did an elderly black lab end up more than 80 miles from home, walking along Rt. 35 in Middletown, New Jersey?

Yes, this incredible story happened last week. Wanda, a 15-year-old Labrador retriever-border collie mix, went missing last week from her home in Allamuchy Township, in mountainous Warren County in the northwest corner of the state. Wanda's owner lives in a heavily wooded area off Interstate 80. But he had to leave town for a few days and the dog was being watched by a friend.

At some point last Wednesday, Sept. 20, the lab wandered off. What happened next remains a mystery.

Later that same day, two teenage girls found an older black lab walking along the side of Highway 35 in Middletown. The dog was wearing a collar, but no ID tags. At about 7 Wednesday evening, Red Bank Mayor Pat Menna was walking into the Red Bank municipal building for the first meeting of the town's new Animal Welfare Committee. That's when he noticed two girls and a dog sitting outside.

"I saw the girls sitting on a bench with this dog, so I went over and petted the dog on the head," Mayor Menna told Patch. "One of the girls was from Middletown and they told me they had found this dog on the highway and they didn't know what to do. They had taken her to Middletown police and then to Red Bank Veterinary Hospital, but neither was able to take the dog. The dog was very friendly, but the girls seemed downcast."

"I told them they had come to the right place," he said. "We brought the dog inside. One person raced to the Red Bank 7-Eleven to get dog food because the dog seemed hungry and thirsty."

When offered, the dog wolfed down the food and water, and appeared to be very tired. But Wanda was otherwise healthy.

"We didn't want to drop it off at a shelter, because we didn't know how long it had been out and we didn't want to traumatize it further," said Menna.

Longtime Red Bank resident Debbie Marks stepped up and said she could foster the dog until its owners were found. "The dog was very happy. He went with Debbie and he was taken for several walks throughout Red Bank," said Menna.

Red Bank Animal Control Officer Henry Perez was called in. "I contacted literally every animal rescue group in Monmouth County you can think of, asking if someone lost a black lab," he said.

"But nobody in Monmouth reported missing a dog like this," he told Patch. "We were at a loss."

Meanwhile, Marks and the Red Bank Animal Welfare Committee were actively posting on Facebook, asking people if anyone was missing an older black lab. One post was shared more than 500 times. And up in Newton, N.J., a woman named Jennifer May was doing the same, also posting on Facebook. May had been frantically searching for the dog, who lived with her son. They even had strangers helping them comb the marshes and woods near their home, thinking Wanda was lying injured somewhere.

Someone just happened to see both Facebook posts and make the connection, Marks said. On Saturday morning, she received a call from May, who was in tears.

"At first I was skeptical when she called me," admitted Marks. "You never know. But she knew certain things about the dog and was able to describe certain things. And she started crying on the phone. Then she had about a two-hour drive to get down here, but she made it to Red Bank in under two hours."

On Saturday, Wanda was reunited with her owners.

"Labrador retrievers are friendly with everyone," said Marks. "But when she saw this family, you could just tell this was her family. She ran to them and she was just lying on her back and wouldn't get up. She was so happy getting her belly rubbed."

The details of Wanda's 80-mile journey are unknown.

"I don't know how the dog got here, but it got here," said the Red Bank mayor. "I don't think it walked, but we really don't know what happened."

May speculated to Red Bank Green, which first reported the story, that Wanda may have gotten in the car with someone.

“She loves people, loves car rides. She even tried to get on the school bus” once with a little girl, she said.

Wanda will be named an honorary canine citizen of Red Bank at the next town council meeting. Mayor Menna also said he wants to present the Middletown teenagers who found her with a mayoral citation.

"There are certain stories you just can't piece together," said Animal Control Officer Perez. "And not all animal stories have happy endings like this. But this was one of those rare situations where we were able to find the owners. You don't hear that a lot."

All photos provided to Patch by Debbie Marks