Published: June 20, 2009 08:04 pm      

Bikers unite in search for family’s beloved missing pet

BLUEFIELD — On March 12, Charlie Cole opened the front door of his home to get his newspaper and realized that his 7-year-old Siberian Husky “Bear,” wasn’t there.

Since that moment Cole, his family and his network of friends, has been searching for the unique, loving and lovable dog that entered the Cole family as an 8-week-old pup and immediately gained status as a family member.

“She’s a unique looking dog,” Cole said as he and Brad Belcher welcomed members of the East River Mountain Harley Owners Group (HOG) who were participating in “Bikers For Bear,” Saturday, an effort to increase public awareness about the missing family pet. “She has blue eyes, a misty black coat with little white patches of fur on her chest and paws. She’s well-behaved, loving and friendly to everyone.”

“I never got to know her, but when you have a pet in your family, you get attached,” J.C. Lackey of Pineville said. Lackey, 84, rode to Bluefield to do anything he could do to help his friend find Bear. “A pet becomes part of the family,” Lackey said.

“When she was first missing, I offered a $500 reward for her recovery,” Cole said. “I have since raised the reward to $5,000. But $500 or $5,000 ... you can’t really put a price on the value of a family member and my whole family thinks of Bear as part of our family.”

The East River HOG members took posters with Bear’s image to businesses in the area and distributed information about Bear in the community. Cole said that Bear had two collars, both identifying her as Cole’s dog, and both including his cell phone number.

“She’s got a very thick coat, so she stayed outside most of the time,” Cole said. “Her house was outside and one of her collars had the receiving unit from our (invisible) pet fence. Her identification had fallen off her other collar, but the guys here at the shop riveted it back on. If someone found Bear, they had to know who’s dog she was.”

Cole hired Karin TarQwyn, a nationally known pet detective, to lead the search for Bear. “She (TarQwyn) said that as friendly as Bear is, she may have approached a citizen and that concerned citizen might have assisted her.” Cole said that Saturday’s “Bikers For Bear” ride was an effort to increase public awareness that she’s missing. “I’m doing everything I can think to do so we can get reunited,” Cole said.

Belcher confirmed that Bear is friendly. “The day I met her, Charlie brought her into the office,” Belcher said. “This big, black dog walked up to me. I petted her a few times on the head and she walked out. I remember thinking how well-behaved she is.”

Cole Harley-Davidson in Bluefield as well as its sister dealership, Black Wolf Harley-Davidson in Bristol, Va., participated in Bikers For Bear with East River Mountain HOG. In a press release about the event, Cole urged anyone with information about Bear to contact him at (304) 952-5752 of (304) 324-8116, or e-mail (info@coleh-d.com) for more information about Bikers for Bear.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com