Injured Boy Missing His Companion
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By Patrick Ison
November 24, 2004, TIFFIN OHIO-- When Branden Runion was seriously injured last year in a car accident, his dog Hunter became an even more important fixture in his life and may have even helped in his therapy.
The black and brown German shepherd has been missing since Oct. 24, according to Shawnie Runion, Branden's mother. "He (Hunter) didn't come back that night," she said. According to Runion, the dog disappeared while they were visiting her mother next door. She estimates the time that they were indoors to be about one hour. She has described the shepherd as "friendly and loving, even though he is a big dog."
"Everywhere Branden was Hunter was," she said, "Hunter would lay with him and was always with him. He was such a good dog."
Branden Runion rescued his dog about six years ago when the dog was 4 months old. He saw the dog chained outside on some ice and asked his owners if he could have him.
Runion said that she has searched all of the area shelters and run some ads, but that no one has come forward with any useful information. "We had a couple of calls (concerning Hunter), but none of them was Hunter," Shawnie Runion said.
The family is unsure of what happened to Hunter, but think that the dog was most likely picked up by someone. They are asking that if someone has information about Hunter, good or bad, that they step forward. The family is offering a reward for any information. "If someone did hurt him, let us bury him," she said.
Runion said that there were plans to teach Hunter how to do certain things so that he could assist Branden. "We were going to teach him to do certain tasks," she said. "But we can't do that now."
