Constable: Legendary stray touched hearts, reached heights
A legend in the wilds of Oak Brook, Rusty the stray dog captured hearts and eluded authorities during his years on the lam in the land of gated communities and office parks. When he finally gave himself up in January 2011 after more than three years on the run, the chow-sheltie mix needed treatment for heartworms.
With the help of fans such as Harry and RonDa Peters, who established a trust fund to care for Rusty, the 4-year-old dog recovered and was sent to the luxurious 3,800-acre Best Friends Animal Society sanctuary in Kanab, Utah. After his rehabilitation, Rusty found a permanent home with animal lover Kristine Kowal, who had moved to Utah from her home in Lake Zurich.
A crowd of six dozen people braved subfreezing temperatures to see Rusty depart from the Hinsdale Humane Society a decade ago, and more than that are still part of the Rusty email chain run by the Peters.
“I thought I would share the sad news I received today to all who loved and helped Rusty,” Harry Peters wrote in an email that included the news from Kowal, who had been coping with Rusty's illnesses typical in older dogs.
“I'm sad to say we crossed Rusty this morning. It was issues he could not recover from,” Kowal wrote, suggesting Rusty was now “chasing lizards” with Kowal's old dog, Maddy. “My gratitude for everything you did for him. Rusty was a very special guy. My heart is broken.”
Peters, who lost his Shih Tzu-poodle mix named Benji last June, says Rusty, who was never aggressive or mean, will always have a home in peoples' hearts.
“He brought a community together,” Peters says. Instead of the polite wave shared before Rusty arrived, people in the Oak Brook subdivisions of Forest Glen and Woodside Estates would stop to talk about the latest Rusty sightings.
“Some gave him a steak that they brought home from a restaurant the night before, and others made him a grilled-cheese sandwich,” says Peters. “And he ate them.”
The closest encounter Peters had with the stray was when his three Shih Tzu-poodle mix puppies - Benji, Charlie and Sam - spotted Rusty in the front yard and bolted toward the stray. “He took them on a little trip,” says Peters, who remembers his wife giving chase in high heels and others helping bring back the puppies, but not Rusty.
After Rusty voluntarily strolled through an open gate to play with a rescued bichon-poodle mix on Sept. 20, 2010, the homeowners shut the gate, and Rusty willingly went with the animal authorities.
Dozens of “Friends of Rusty” donated money for the dog's care. Rusty lived well at Best Friends Animal Society, which is best known as the place where the fighting dogs owned by former professional football player Michael Vick were sent to recover.
Kowal, who adopted her dog Maddy when she was volunteering at the Save-A-Pet shelter in Grayslake, read about Rusty's adventures in the Daily Herald and fell in love with the dog. She retired, moved to Utah and was volunteering at Best Friends Animal Society when Rusty showed up. He was put into Dogtown, an exclusive gated community of dogs living in small group homes in the sanctuary, surrounded by national parks and nestled in what might be the most stunningly scenic canyon in Utah.
Kowal worked with Rusty to teach him how to give up his wild ways and be a companion, then gave him a permanent home. In 2012, Kowal, Maddy and Rusty were hiking when a rattlesnake bit Rusty. Just as he dodged death from speeding cars, brutal winters and coyotes in Oak Brook, Rusty survived the poisonous snakebite.
At least 14 years old, Rusty certainly lived a rewarding life, says Peters, who already has offered to make sure the dog is laid to rest in a scenic location.
“Rusty found the home he deserved,” Peters says. “He was special.”