Dog lover helps keep track of rogue pooches

Before Lisa Lovelette was an advocate for the lost dogs of Waterbury, she was an administrator in local schools.

The Waterbury Center resident spent 20 years as a principal in Hardwick and Hinesburg before retiring 11 years ago.

Her school experiences taught her to be a good communicator, which was instrumental in tracking the movements of Murphy the dog, a golden retriever who ran away from a car accident in Stowe in 2014, found his way to Waterbury, and was on the loose until last month.

Murphy’s owner, Ed Hamel, said Lovelette was a tremendous help in keeping track of where dog had been sighted. She even checked traps that had been set in an effort to catch the roaming retriever. Hamel lives in Morristown, 20 miles from Waterbury, and it was tough making the trip multiple times a day.

Lovelette said her job was easy.

“It was like being an orchestra conductor,” she said.

She would check in with Hamel, print posters and post updates to Front Porch Forum, keeping people abreast of news about Murphy.

That was the most important thing, she said — making sure people didn’t forget about the dog.

The work all paid off in January, when Murphy was caught and finally went home after 559 days on the lam.

At about the same time, another dog ran away just south of Waterbury.

Sole — a border collie whose owner, Carl Couillard, lives in Berlin — ran away from a home in Middlesex. She ended up in Waterbury Center, just like Murphy.

Lovelette jumped into action, reaching out to Couillard to offer assistance.

It has been more than a month, and Sole has not been found. Lovelette’s latest update was Friday, reporting that Sole had not been seen for 15 days.

(UPDATE: On Feb. 4, Lovelette posted the following on Front Porch Forum: Sole was caught on a web cam at 6 a.m. this morning (Thursday) in the Wood Farm Road area so she is still in the same area. Our guess is she is she moving during darkness which is why she has not been sighted, but it is great news to know she is staying in the same area. We will keep you updated as the next step in our plan unfolds ...)

Couillard is still hopeful.

He said he was shocked at how much help and support he got from Lovelette and many other Waterbury residents.

“I don’t know them from Adam,” he told the Record previously. “It’s like they care more about animals than they do people.”

Doggy doting

Lovelette loves her dogs. Her eyes light up when talking about them. She has a bichon-poodle mix named Miley and a collie-shepherd mix named Mia.

She brought her collie-shepherd mix home from the North Country Animal League in Morrisville. She volunteers at the animal league, had been walking the dog up for a long time, and just fell in love.

Lovelette’s home wasn’t supposed to be Mia’s forever home. She just took the dog in for Thanksgiving, because she thought “nobody should be alone on Thanksgiving.”

“We never brought her back,” she said.

Miley has taught Lovelette a lot.

“Dog training is more for the people,” Lovelette said. She needed to learn how to be the leader of the pack.

If the tables turned

Lovelette said that, if her dogs ran away, “I’d probably panic at first,” but that would pass quickly. Working with Hamel and now with Couillard, she has learned what to do.

Lovelette believes the community would help her like she has helped Hamel and Couillard, especially since she has made a lot of friends throughout her work with Murphy and Sole.

Couillard and Hamel are grateful for Lovelette’s help.

“In my mind, it’s a small gesture,” Lovelette said. “Important, but minor.”