In 1989, the local newspapers were focused on the story of “Lucky,” a stray one-year-old Labrador mix who had frolicked for weeks through North Hudson Braddock Park in North Bergen, managing to elude concerned animal welfare officials and good Samaritans.
Both parties fed him but couldn’t catch him. No one knew where he’d come from.
The pursuit came to a happy end on Sept. 19, 1989. Even though officials had enticed “Lucky” to eat drugged dog food and shot him with a tranquilizer dart, it took neighbors five hours of chasing him through the pouring rain to catch him. One of the many residents who had been feeding him, Shirley Goss, originally from Middlesex County, England, but living in Stonehenge Apartments on Boulevard East, offered to give him a home.
After a checkup with the vet, Lucky moved into Goss’ apartment. She renamed the dog “Dodger” and gave him a good life. She received letters of congratulations from Mayor Nicholas Sacco and Assemblyman David Kronick. “Please accept my sincere congratulations on holding the distinction of adopting this canine with celebrity status,” wrote North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco at the time. “I must agree with your decision to remane your pet ‘Dodger,’ as he is, indeed, an artful dodger.”
Other interested neighbors asked to see how the dog was doing, and weeks later, they called out to Goss when she was taking Dodger for walks in the park.
For the next five years, Goss lived in North Bergen with Dodger, and frequented New York outdoor cafes with him. Then, she and a friend, Nora Davies of New York City, who had her own dog, retired to Florida and are now roommates.
In Boca Raton, by the beach, Dodger led a lucky dog’s life. He coexisted for eight years with Sami, Davies’ Lhasa Apso, as well as Goss’ two cats, Freckle and Lynx.
“They got to know all the dogs, cats and people in the neighborhood,” Goss said last week. “Dodger had a wonderful life, [and] has given and received much love.”
“Dodger was a treat,” Davies said. “He just loved his life.”
A month ago, Dodger was diagnosed with bone cancer. Before that, his owners believed he had arthritis.
“His legs would give out sometimes,” said Goss, “but he managed to get up for walks in the end and he never made a mistake in the house.”
“Right up to the end, he held onto his dignity,” Davies said. “He was a proud and happy dog. But he knew he was going.”
On June 29, 2002, Dodger’s owners put him to sleep. Goss, Davies, and Sami the Lhasa Apso were in the room when he got his shot.
“He lived a very good life,” Davies said. “It shows that we can all end up living fabulous lives after tough starts.”