Update: Dog on the West Seattle Bridge (now back home!)

ORIGINAL 3:26 PM REPORT: Have received several notes/texts about this – there’s a dog running on the westbound West Seattle Bridge, reportedly near Admiral and in the left lane/on the shoulder. First note we received says help’s been called. 5:22 PM UPDATE: Dog and owner will be reunited, thanks in the end to the folks who e-mailed and texted about the situation. We also posted to Facebook and Twitter; long story short, via FB, a friend of the dog’s owner says the owner has called police, the dog’s OK, reunion’s impending. 5:37 PM UPDATE: Owner Christel confirms, in comments:

I HAVE MY DOG BACK!!!! Thank you all SOOOO much!!! All the help was amazing! This is the first time he has ever run away and I had no idea what to do! The West Seattle Blog, FB and tweeting saved my dog!!! Thank you to all! P.S. His name is Arrow. Love to all!!

And throw in texting and e-mail too (shoutout to Carrie Ann and Debbie). Glad Arrow is safe.

Debbie January 18, 2010 (3:28 pm)

Thank you for publishing this. Hopefully he makes it off alright and home.

Carrie Ann January 18, 2010 (3:40 pm)

Hopefully my text was coherent. I was trying to do it quickly, with a sleeping child in the car (after pulling over, of course), on my way home. At first I thought someone was having car trouble, which is why traffic had slowed, since I couldn’t see an accident or any police car. Then I noticed the dog, running up the bridge. :\ REALLY hoping they catch him/her, safely and soon!

WSB January 18, 2010 (3:46 pm)

Thanks, Carrie Ann. Sent it out on Twitter and FB before putting it here, so we sent it out on all “channels.” I’ve been listening to the scanner and there’s no indication of how, or whether, it resolved – the only functioning bridge cam
http://www.seattle.gov/trafficcams/WSB_Mid-span.htm
cuts short before the area where it sounds like that all played out. Hoping someone eventually will find this item and know what happened. At least (knock wood) there are no 911 log reports of accidents on the bridge so hopefully that means the dog didn’t get hit … tr

Scott January 18, 2010 (3:53 pm)

He was running FULL SPEED heading up the west side of the high rise running east into incoming traffic.

Homeward bound sound familiar?
Next time take the lower bridge dog, its got a sidewalk.

WSB January 18, 2010 (4:01 pm)

Update, heard a bit of scanner traffic about police being “with the dog” on East Marginal Way. Hope it’s the same one. Not always a lot of pet-related chatter on the scanner.

Hayley January 18, 2010 (4:45 pm)

So is the dog okay???

WSB January 18, 2010 (5:03 pm)

Jonah at http://seattlecrime.com tweeted (@seacrime) that he heard the dog’s in custody. So here’s hoping. Someone on FB thinks they may know whose dog it is – we suggested they call police.

Christel Mulcock January 18, 2010 (5:35 pm)

I HAVE MY DOG BACK!!!! Thank you all SOOOO much!!! All the help was amazing! This is the first time he has ever run away and I had no idea what to do! The West Seattle Blog, FB and tweeting saved my dog!!! Thank you to all! P.S. His name is Arrow. Love to all!!

christyinseattle January 18, 2010 (5:41 pm)

Hurray!!!

kryptonite January 18, 2010 (5:59 pm)

Oh wow, I’m SO relieved to read this. I, too, was driving westbound on the bridge this afternoon around 3:55 when Arrow was RACING in a straight line (per his name), eastbound, toward the ramp to 99. Last I saw of him, he nearly got hit by two cars at that ramp junction, and then I couldn’t see him anymore. I drove home, so despondent, feeling certain that the story was not going to end happily.

I would LOVE to know what the story is — why was he running so fast, and on the bridge??? How old is he? He really seemed like a “dog on a mission,” completely oblivious to all the cars around him, stopping for no one. Who eventually stopped him? And on what road? I’m dying for more details and, again, am just thrilled that this ended so joyfully.

Maddie January 18, 2010 (6:01 pm)

YYYYYAAAYYY That’s so exciting! Glad you’re safe with Arrow:)

Carrie Ann January 18, 2010 (6:19 pm)

So SO glad to hear it! I had that brief moment of seriously wanting to stop in the middle of the bridge and try to coax Arrow into the car. It was such a strange thing to see a dog running (full speed, as Scott put it, above) on the bridge and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Thank you for the update, and thanks to those who pitched in to help reunite him with his owner! Hope he enjoyed his adventure. ;D

Kravitz January 18, 2010 (6:32 pm)

What a relief. With all the sad news lately, this is really a bright spot. I’m glad the dog is ok and glad that nobody was hurt. I know accidents happen, but just a friendly reminder for pet owners to keep dogs leashed and/or enclosed in a fenced yard. Also a reminder for drivers to slow down and keep close to the limit on the bridge (that means YOU, Mr. “I’m more important than everyone else, now get outta my way!” in the blue Chevy Aveo, tailing me all the way home even though I was already over the limit myself.)

Babs January 18, 2010 (6:41 pm)

Yeah, I’m with kryptonite – what is the story of Arrow and maybe a picture? Happy endings in news are far and few as of late so this could be a nice one.

WSB January 18, 2010 (6:47 pm)

I had already asked for that in the FB discussion but sending thru another channel …

Ms Evelyn January 18, 2010 (7:07 pm)

I love this town! I am so impressed that so many people cared about this dog. Glad the story has a happy ending.

Christel January 18, 2010 (7:16 pm)

Ok, I have posted some pictures on facebook. I am not sure how to post pictures on this blog. My facebook name is Christel Dawn (it is the first Christel Dawn that comes up when you do the search) the pictures are under the photo album “Arrow”. Thank you again SO much to everyone who helped us. And thank you to the Seattle Police Department and the officer who stayed with Arrow!

WSB January 18, 2010 (7:18 pm)

I’ll fetch one to add to this item. Thanks! – TR

pigeonmom January 18, 2010 (8:09 pm)

What a handsome, wily little scamp. ;-) Glad to hear Arrow made it home safely.

kryptonite January 18, 2010 (8:28 pm)

Love the photo. What a great guy. Can’t wait to hear theories on what got INTO him!

Bob Loblaw January 18, 2010 (9:22 pm)

Bring Arrow down to Spud to celebrate. We’ll give him the treats that darn cat who hangs out there isn’t supposed to have :-)

Hooray for happy endings!

Shawnie January 18, 2010 (11:51 pm)

For those of you who want to know a little more about Arrow: he’s seven (a middle aged man in dog years). I’ve known him his whole life and he has never dug out of a back yard – ever – never even dug a hole to bury something. He’s never run away and always comes when he’s called and is extremely well behaved and trained. He’s the coolest dog EVER (I’m pretty sure he speaks English) and I would have been heartbroken if anything had ever happened to him! I can’t even think about it. He was so loved that within 5 minutes of getting the word he was gone we had four cars out looking and several people combing the streets. I can’t tell you what it means that everyone was so careful on the freeway and everyone here was so concerned about keeping him safe – I feel so much better about the world today, and especially our community. YAY!

And, yeah, he’s FAST – super FAST. I’ve seen him run like that and I can only imagine what it looked like. (Actually, I cringe when I think about it. So scary!)

As for where he was going and what he was thinking – MAN I wish I knew! I would give a lot right now to read his mind.

Thanks again everyone! He’s definitely sore and clinging to all of us tonight, but he’s safe and it’s because people cared.

brad January 19, 2010 (12:05 am)

This Harry Nilsson fan is smiling. Arrow should learn to play Triangle toss in a field and not on a pointless bridge.

charlabob January 19, 2010 (7:05 am)

This is such a relief — and, yeah, the community (and WSB) always come through :-)

Megan January 19, 2010 (12:30 pm)

I am SO happy this ended well!! I was driving over the WS bridge yesterday and saw the poor pup. Having two dogs myself, I feel good knowing Seattle is filled with dog-lovers.

Sorry, comment time is over.