A BELOVED dog who got lost while hiking on the Appalachian Trail sent an entire family into a frantic search to retrieve him before his chronic disease killed him.
Gonker, a golden retriever mix, was 6 years old when he bolted into the woods while hiking on the Appalachian Trail with his owner, Fielding Marshall.
He had Addison’s disease, an adrenal insufficiency for which he required monthly shots. That meant the Marshalls had 23 days to find their pet, or he might slip into a coma.
Marshall’s family began a frantic search, with Marshall and his father combing the trails while his mother Virginia set up a command center at home.
Pauls Toutonghi, Marshall’s brother-in-law, recounts the family’s desperate search for Gonker in a new book called “Dog Gone.”
Marshall adopted Gonker, a golden retriever mix, after his baby daughter died during heart surgery in 1991.
Gonker, a rescue, won the hearts of Marshall’s entire family. But the Marshall’s hearts broke when Gonker went missing in 1998 near Catawba.
It had been 10 days since his last injection against Addison’s disease, and he would need one within 23 days.
Marshall’s father, John, went back into the trails with his son looking for Gonker. His sister Peyton coached him through some of the hardest moments on the phone.
The family’s other dog, Uli, went with Marshall and his father during their search.
The Marshalls’ bid to find Gonker attracted the attention of the local paper in Waynesboro, Virginia, and ended on the Associated Press news wire.
People from across the country sent tips. But with every day that passed, the Marshalls’ hope of finding Gonker alive and in good health shrank.
But Virginia received a call from a police officer Oct. 25 at 2 a.m., 15 days after Gonker went missing. He had been found eating from trash cans in Wintergreen, 111 miles (178 km) away from Catawba.
Gonker, who had managed to gain a pound during his journey, lived for five more years afterwards, reaching the age of 11.
(SD-Agencies)
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