When Morse College Master Frank Keil returned home last Wednesday, he did not hear the familiar scuffling of his dog Sasha around the house.

Sasha, a 4-year-old Lhasa Apso who is usually confined to the Morse courtyard, left the premises after workers making repairs to Keil’s house accidentally left the door open. An anonymous citizen found Sasha on Olive Street Wednesday afternoon and reported the case to the New Haven Animal Shelter.

After spending Wednesday night distributing flyers about his missing dog and searching various New Haven neighborhoods, Keil called the shelter Thursday morning to discover that Sasha had been found.

Keil had been expecting a call during the night because Sasha normally wears identification tags on her collar. But Sasha’s tags were missing when the citizen found the dog.

“It’s a wonderful thing about the city of New Haven to know that an anonymous citizen took the time to drive a lost dog to the shelter,” Keil said.

In addition to Morse College students, the janitorial staff as well as the Morse and Yale Law School dining hall staff became involved in the search, Keil said.

Jean Marden, an employee at the shelter, said Sasha was a pleasure during her brief stay at the shelter.

“[Sasha’s] a sweetheart,” Marden said. “We made a little bed for her. When no one called, we unfortunately had to place her in a kennel.”

Keil’s 12-year-old son, Marty, said that he was “sad and depressed” when he first learned of Sasha’s disappearance. But after losing the family dog for a day, Marty said he now appreciates Sasha more.

“I pay more attention to her now,” Marty said. “I respect her more and give her more food.”

Keil said he was especially grateful to the animal shelter and is delighted to welcome back an integral member of the Morse community.

“There would have been a lot of long faces around Morse College if we had not found her,” Keil said.

–Bess Hinson

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