Hazel, as Arcadians refer to the hound, has become a fixture in Arcadia, especially along Hazel Street. She has a following of nearly 300 people on Facebook. On March 11th, concerned citizens began the “Hazel, the Arcadia Stray, Sightings” Facebook page to try to locate her to make sure she was safe. For months the townspeople, including the ladies at State Farm Insurance, have provided food and water for her, and have found homes for her puppies. They have tried to safely catch her so she can be spayed, but Hazel always seems to outsmarts them. In February, when we were snowed/iced in for a week, Arcadians became worried because there was no sign of Hazel. As the days stretched into weeks, the townspeople feared that something had happened to the beloved canine. Because of the Facebook page, Arcadians learned that Hazel like to travel.
During the winter storm, Hazel took a vacation from Hazel Street in Arcadia and stayed about a month in Minden, twenty five miles to the west. She spent a lot of her time at Minden’s Wal-Mart. Hazel refuses to explain how she got from Arcadia to Minden, but concerned citizens in Minden shared pictures of her on the Facebook group. The last reported sighting of Hazel in Minden was March 12th.
Two days later, citizens in Homer, twenty miles to the northeast, reported seeing Hazel whiling away the hours on Homer’s town square. Several people commented that it must be different dogs. Surely Hazel could not have traveled to Minden and then to Homer. Within a day or two, people responded to the comments with pictures of Hazel in Homer. Somehow, Hazel had travelled to Minden and Homer. Homer’s police department was not as receptive to Hazel as the citizens of that town, Minden, or Arcadia, and tried to “take any steps possible” to get Hazel off Homer’s town square. Luckily, Hazel evaded the police force.
On March 20th, Arcadian’s were relieved to learn that Hazel had returned to Hazel Street. She seemed happy and healthy. The townspeople are attempting to safely catch Hazel to have her spayed and vaccinated.
If you would like to donate food for Hazel, you can drop it off at State Farm Insurance in Arcadia. Hazel prefers Chicken flavored Dog Chow. You can also help fund her spaying and vaccination by donating to Misfit Farms Rescue and Sanctuary at 3078 Hwy 519 in Athens (be sure to notify them that the donation is for Hazel) or through PayPal at Lobckl@aol.com. Within 24 hours, fans of Hazel had donated $85 towards her wellbeing. So far, donations had reached $185.