Lost dog tale has happy ending for Gilberts family

It wasn't just a story about a lost dog. I know people's pets go missing every day.

The story about Scooby was intended to highlight the village of Gilberts' ordinance regarding the placement of signs so that other people who might be faced with the same situation don't endure the same heartache as the Surges family.

No matter where you live, check with the village to see where signs are allowed to be posted. Village ordinance differ and asking questions can save time and heartache.

It wasn't political, it was meant to be a noncontroversial story.

Scooby, an 8-pound, 11-inch tall miniature pinscher was found last week after spending more than a week away from home. With the temperatures below freezing - often dipping into the teens during the time Scooby was out there - the little dog managed to survive.

A village code enforcement officer had removed four signs from telegraph poles because they were on the village's right-of-way, a code violation. When the youngest Surges child noticed a sign missing while on her way home from school, she thought Scooby had been returned. But he hadn't. Not yet at least. The family searched and waited for another five days. No sign of the dog.

For days, Cliff Surges said he felt an unimaginable amount of guilt. Scooby wasn't just a family pet, Scooby was Cliff's brother's dog.

Then, Cliff Surges says he received "the greatest" phone call.

Scooby had been spotted.

He was found on Sunday, Feb. 8 by a Daily Herald reader who had seen the article in the paper that morning and the dog a few hours later. Jeff and his wife Jill, were returning home from church when they saw Scooby sitting on the top of a hill near the Reimer Center in Gilberts.

Jeff and Jill then raced home and pulled out the copy of the Daily Herald, which had a photograph of the signs the Surges kids had made. Their father's cell phone number was clearly visible, so the Barnum's called.

It took a while to corral the little thing and reinforcements were needed. Scrappy, Scooby's brother, was called in. Anytime someone - and there were 15 people - got close, Scooby would run away. But Scrappy's bark was like a call to come home. Cliff Surges said the two dogs barked at each other and then ran to each other. Now, Scooby and Scrappy are back together again in St. Charles.

Election rules: In recent days, stories about candidates being booted of their respective ballots for violating election rules have also garnered some interest, mostly because many readers see some of the rules as trivial.

But those rules pertaining to binding and numbering petition pages are crucial to maintaining the integrity of the election.

Binding a petition with a staple ensures that pages cannot be removed or added once they have been handed into the clerk.

The same can be said for pages numbered consecutively. No other pages can be added or removed for the purpose of either helping or hindering a candidate's petition.