Gidget

Gidget, a 7-year-old Jack Russell terrier, was found in Tualatin earlier this month -- 2,700 miles away from her owner's home in Pennsylvania. Caretakers at the shelter are looking for help in reuniting the dog with her owner. Ian K. Kullgren/The Oregonian

(Ian K. Kullgren/The Oregonian)

Gidget's journey west is an extraordinary one, even by human standards.

And it's not nearly over.

The 7-year-old Jack Russell Terrier went missing April 22 near her owner's home in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. Five months later, a former volunteer at Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter spotted her trotting along a road in Tualatin — nearly 2,700 miles from where she began.

Gidget's backstory was realized when shelter technicians identified her through a microchip embedded in her skin.

Needless to say, her owner was shocked when she got the call.

"She was very surprised and excited," said Shelia Farrin, the shelter technician who identified Gidget. "She was like 'I have no idea how she got all the way out there.'"

Pet microchips like Gidget's can't track a dog's movements. And although it's technically possible for a dog — even a terrier as small as this one — to walk across the country, caretakers at the shelter don't think Gidget did.

The black and tan-spotted terrier is a healthy 14.4 pounds, only five less than when she left home. She shows no signs of trauma and is well-behaved with shelter workers. She greets strangers with a wet tongue and a wagging tail.

Which suggests Gidget hitched a ride with someone.

"Was it a long-haul trucker? Was it someone heading out West to start a new life? Did she make five stops?" said Jen Keene, the shelter's education coordinator.

Nobody knows.

Now, Gidget is facing another challenge: getting home.

The owner, who so far hasn't come forward publicly, can't afford a round-trip plane ticket from Pennsylvania to retrieve her. So Shelter Manager Deborah Wood is looking for another way to reunite the two — ideally, finding someone in the metro area who already has a ticket booked to Philadelphia and would agree to take Gidget along.

She's even small enough to carry on.

"It's kind of like a Walt Disney movie," Wood said. "We're going to make sure it has a Walt Disney-like ending."

-- Ian K. Kullgren

Those wishing to help reunite Gidget with her owner may call Deborah Wood, manager of the Bonnie L. Hays Small Animal Shelter, at 503-846-7148.