Family rescues a dog from hunger and cold in Chantilly Park (and how you can help too)

This is Sampson. Or Shadowfax.

He was hungry, cold and alone in Chantilly Park near 135 Wyanoke Ave., off Seventh Street at Firefighter Place.

A family found him, made friends and took him home, then called Charlotte-Mecklenburg Animal Control to pick him up and try to find his owner, in case he had just wandered from home nearby.
Is he yours? You can check with animal control to find out how to get in touch and reclaim him. The family that found him, though, has fallen slightly in love and hopes to adopt him if his rightful owner doesn’t show up.

(Update: Animal control people on Tuesday contacted the family who found the dog to let them know the owner had reclaimed Sampson/Shadowfax. Word had gone out on the Yahoo message group for the Chantilly neighborhood, and perhaps that's how the owner located the missing pet.)

The family deserves praise for not only rescuing this dog from hunger and cold but also helping to make one local park feel safer for people with very small children or smaller dogs. The German shepherds that roamed the Briar Creek Greenway near Merry Oaks were intimidating for awhile, but persistent neighbors rescued those dogs after tons of work.

While you’re browsing: check out the other stray dogs, cats, rats and rabbits at animal control that need homes. Or consider donating through animal control to the pet food bank through Second Harvest, which helps feeds pets as well as humans.

Photos: Courtesy of Jim Mitchem, a local adman and dad. (Yes, his family found Sampson/Shadowfax.)