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Airport dog out of surgery
AMANDA HICKEY
April 14, 2009 - 10:41AM

This story was updated at 5:44 p.m.

He was saved by love.

Buddy, Albert J. Ellis Airport’s resident walker hound, was captured Monday night and had surgery to remove the collar that was embedded in his neck Tuesday, said Gail Whipple, founder of the Carolina Animal Protection Society.

His capture came not from the lure of food but from the lure of a four-legged companion.

“It was ... Roxie, the darling beagle he fell in love with,” Whipple said.

After being captured at about 6 p.m. Monday, Buddy spent Tuesday with a veterinarian - in surgery and getting neutered vaccinations and a check up, she said.

The vet said Buddy was clear of heartworms and tick fever, but that he appeared to have about four inches of rotten flesh underneath his neck from the collar, she said.

“(Buddy’s) entire neck was enflamed, all the way around,” Whipple said.

Buddy’s rescue came after four visits by Roxie.

Sunday, after what was Roxie’s third visit to introduce her to Buddy, Buddy chased the car the beagle was in as they left.

“He chased us and barked and I felt bad. ... I thought if we’re that close, I’m going to come out (Monday) and see, and it worked,” Roxie’s owner, Terri Riggs of Maysville, said.

Buddy eventually came close enough to slip a rope around his neck, she said.

“When he let me pet him, what a feeling. That was awesome,” Riggs said. “Then I stood up and he jumped up and kissed me on the nose. ... You can tell that all he wants is to be loved.”

After Riggs got the rope on him, Buddy was escorted into the airport firehouse where a canine carrier waited for him, Airport Director Jerry Vickers said.

The rescue, however, came at a cost to Roxie’s self-esteem.

“I think she finally figured out that she’s been used,” Riggs said, explaining that Roxie was upset with the commotion but is fine. “When he gets better, they’re going to meet again. We’re going to set up a play date. This way they don’t have to be on leashes and stuff. They can play however they want to.”

Riggs learned about Buddy after reading about him in The Daily News, she said, and sent CAPS a donation for him in honor of her dog, Buddy, who died in March.

After receiving a thank-you note from Whipple, they began talking about a plan.

“(Roxie’s) very timid and I thought she would do very well with him. ... She was close to going into heat; that was the main reason. I knew that if she’s in heat, he would follow her anywhere she goes, and he did,” Riggs said.

After his vet visit, Buddy will go to a CAPS member’s home in order to recover and be socialized before going to his adoptive owner, Dolly Ramires, the airport police officer who gave Buddy his first taste of Bojangles.

“He’s going to be with me and spoiled just like my other three dogs,” Ramires said. Ramires has two beagles and a lab at home waiting to meet their new friend.

Buddy will have a seven-acre fenced yard at his disposal.

“I’m just so thrilled; it took so long. I just hope he knows that it’s all for the best of him and that he’s not going to a home of abuse,” Ramires said. “He’ll be loved to death.”

More than $3,200 in donations were sent to CAPS for Buddy, all of which will go to his veterinary care and whatever he needs, Whipple said.

“It’s going to be kind of lonely not having him out (at the airport),” Vickers said. “But this is, obviously, what’s best for him.”

Contact Jacksonville/Onslow County reporter Amanda Hickey at 910-219-8461 or ahickey@freedomenc.com.