Sign In

Lost Therapy Dog

December 29, 2020

Victoria Williamson, a Lexington resident, is asking community members to keep an eye out for her missing dog, Duke.

Duke is an English Shepherd mix with black fur and tan markings on his snout, chest and paws. Williamson describes him as about a foot and a half tall and between 30 and 35 pounds.

The 6-year-old dog went missing Friday evening after a friend let him out without her knowledge. Williamson, who lives off of State Route 546, was leaving her home when Duke began chasing down her vehicle. Williamson was past the square in Lexington when her friend called her to alert her that Duke had run off. She immediately turned around and began searching for Duke, but was unable to find him during the Christmas snowstorm.

“The snow was blowing all over so I couldn’t see anything,” she recalled.

Duke was not wearing a collar and was not chipped, so Williamson is concerned that someone may have picked him up, assuming he was a stray.

“He’s a good dog. He’s very friendly. He’s very responsive to his name,” she said.“He’s never run away before.”

Williamson said her dog is unlikely to run from a stranger if approached slowly with a calm tone of voice. Duke is a therapy dog, which means he is trained to provide emotional support to those in distress.

Williamson, a home health aide, takes Duke with her during her 14- to 48-hour shifts. Clients, often hospice patients and their families, love him.

Williamson said Monday morning she has yet to hear of anyone seeing Duke, despite numerous Facebook posts and calls to dozens of nearby shelters and first responders.

She has posted fliers in downtown Lexington and at local pet stores, pet rescues, gas stations and grocery stores. Volunteers have helped hang fliers, knock on doors and search the woods calling his name.

“It saddens me to think that someone maybe took him and he is a wonderful dog, perhaps they want to keep him,” Williamson said. “He is my life and I need to get him home as soon as possible.”

Register Your Dog

  • Most Recent News

    Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life

    When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]

    Read more

    Students Get Therapy Dog

    When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dogtor

    Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]

    Read more

    Therapy Dog Pups

    When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]

    Read more

    Puppy Cams

    A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]

    Read more

    Pet Committee

    When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]

    Read more