Here is a really amazing story about the golden retriever known as “Golden Ghost” (his real name is Sam).

Sam had been treated badly by his original owners. Then he was rescued and adopted, but after 3 weeks, he ran away from his new owners.

To their credit, the new owners never gave up. Sam was seen many times over the years, and people tried to capture him, but he always outsmarted them. He survived on food from garbage cans and food that some people left out for him.

Here is the story of his capture:

Donations enabled the SPCA to buy its own remote-controlled net. The Mitchell family, who were among the people who’d regularly been feeding Sam, offered to put it up on their wooded property. They installed a video camera that taped round the clock.

Then the work really began. Having identified Sam’s territory, Sprowl and the SPCA asked the people in the nearby towns of Raymond and Freemont to stop feeding the dog. Slowly, they were trying to make the Mitchell property the only place Sam could count on for a meal.

Police Officer Tona McCarthy, who’d devoted hours of his own time to tracking Sam, made sure he passed near the Mitchells’ at a time the dog was known to visit the food dish.

On Wednesday, he lucked out. He spotted Sam in the area. Rather than stop the car and risk spooking the dog, he ignored Sam and continued on to the Mitchells. There he hid, watching for Sam on a video monitor, ready to release a net. It had been up for five weeks, about 500 feet from the home.

Sam had been suspicious of the net ever since it first went up near one of his favorite feeding spots. He’d already evaded three net attempts in other places.

On video, his caution is obvious. He sniffs the air, the ground and looks from side to side. He steps slowly, creeping closer to the food dish.

Normally, Sam grabs the food bowl with his teeth and drags it away to eat. But rather than lose those tasty ham skimmings, he stopped to gobble a few mouthfuls before seizing the bowl.

The delay gave McCarthy just enough time to release the net — the far end just caught the dog as he fled with the bowl.

McCarthy was so excited when he reported his capture on the radio, he gave his colleagues a scare.

“The chief actually pulled over and he thought something happened to me,” McCarthy said, laughing.

Sam, now in a clean cage at the SPCA animal shelter, is being treated for a cut to his upper lip suffered while trying to escape. Veterinarians say he will need treatment for heartworm and Lyme disease and must be watched to ensure he hasn’t contracted rabies.

Sam will remain under observation for 10 days, then he can go home to the Sklarskis, who are counting on his intelligence to help him recognize that it’s not a bad deal to be a beloved pet.

“The first time that I saw Sam after he was rescued, I went to his cage and I got down on all fours and said, ‘Oh, Sammy boy’ and he looked up at me, and he wagged his tail and he reached his paw out to me,” Peg Sklarski said.

Read the entire story at the Boston.com News.

What a story! It is amazing the effort everyone put in. I hope Sam realizes how good he has it and stays with his new owners now.

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