It has been nearly eight weeks since Walter, a 1-year-old terrier mix, ran away from a car accident on May 30 in Cheat Lake. Since then, there have been sightings of him, but with the last sighting having been two weeks ago, the trail is getting cold.
Walter, a beloved member of the Harker family of Fairmont, had broken his two front legs earlier in the year after jumping off an outdoor playset, and had just finished a follow-up appointment at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital. He was mainly healed but still had about two weeks of crate rest until he was fully recovered.
Pulling out of the parking lot, the family’s car was struck by another vehicle. Their car rolled over, landing them upside down on the vehicle’s roof.
“Walter was in a puppy restraint, so luckily, he didn’t get thrown around,” Latora Harker said. “We were upside down and I got him unbuckled and then I got unbuckled.
“All these people were pounding on our car and panicking,” she said. “Even though I told the people I was fine, they kept panicking and pounding on our car.”
That’s when Harker began to see what she thought was smoke. She later learned the “smoke” was the powdery substance from the airbags, but at the time she did not know that.
“I can’t see anything, so I’m like, oh crap, our car is on fire,” Harker recalled.
Knowing how timid Walter is, Harker knew that if she got out of the car first, the pup would likely not come to her.
“I thought someone was outside the door and I pushed him out between the airbag and the door which I could barely get open,” she said.
Walter then took off “like one of those jackrabbits at the greyhound races,” she said, not letting anybody catch him.
“That’s the last time I’ve seen him,” Harker said.
Since the May 30 accident, the Harkers and others have been searching the area high and low for Walter. Harker said they have been blessed to have the ladies at Pet Helpers who have been helping tremendously.
Living in Fairmont, it has been tough for the Harkers to maintain the 40-minute drive to Morgantown every day to search for him, but Kendra Barone, director of Pet Helpers, and Walter’s previous foster mom Jenny Thorne have really stepped up to help with the search.
Barone said they continue to comb the area daily for the missing pup, but really have no guide on where he might be.
Just two weeks ago, Walter was seen near the Ices Ferry sign — so they set up trail cams and traps in hopes of finding him.
He has not been seen since.
“We do not know if he is in Ices Ferry. You’ve got Cleary Lane up there that goes back around to Cheat Lake Animal Hospital, you’ve got all 500 acres of Lakeview, I mean it’s all very close, but it’s big when you are looking for a little dog,” Barone said.
“We are asking that nobody chase him. He is terrified,” she said. “If you see him, please call with sightings and we will get everything figured out. Don’t even call to him. The minute he saw me he took off.”
Harker said the situation has been hard on the family “because he is just like another kid for us. He has really bonded to everyone in our family, especially me and my 6-year-old.”
Making the situation increasingly heartbreaking, Harker said her daughter somehow concluded that the entire series of events is her fault — because she was playing with Walter when he first broke his legs, and none of it would have happened had he not had that accident.
Walter is said to be a 17-pound terrier mix, primarily black in color with a white chest, a little white mohawk-like spot, and his feet are mostly white.
“If he sees you, he’s probably going to run, but that’s what he does,” Harker said. “He loves people, he’s just timid.”
Barone said Walter could really be anywhere in Cheat Lake and is “playing a great game of hide-and-seek with us.”
Since Walter hasn’t been seen in about two weeks, searchers don’t totally know where to set out traps or trail cams that could possibly catch a glimpse of him.
They are asking everyone — residents, golfers, those enjoying the lake — to be aware he is out there. If a loose dog matching his description is seen, please call Pet Helpers, Inc at 304-672-7387 or Barone directly at 304-685-6383.
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