We rarely associate wild geese with warm and fuzzy feelings, but Sal is different. Named by Henry Huff, Sal is a special goose. One day he showed up in a pond behind Huff’s cabin in Lillington, NC. That was about a year ago. Sal was mostly unfriendly toward Huff and most other folks, but he seemed to hit it off with Sadie – Huff’s bulldog. That was until the bulldog and goose pair was broken.
Sal and Sadie had really fallen in love – they were inseparable, they played together and they journeyed together.
“That goose,” said Wanda Holder, a neighbor, told the News Observer, “takes his long, long neck and rubs on that dog.”
But one day, Sadie went missing missing. Sal has seemed so sad ever since that he has inspired the residents of Harnett County to work together in an online search to find Sadie.
What had happened was that the odd couple wandered out near N.C. 27 last week.
It’s a busy highway outside of Lillington. As per usual, the bulldong and goose pair caused a lot of attention in the passers by who wanted to take a photo with the two animals.
“We stopped to help the Canadian goose keep the bulldog out of the road … and the goose got (angry),” wrote a Sanford man in one Facebook post. “Started chasing everyone around and trying to bite anybody that got near the dog. You can’t make this (stuff) up.”
It was at that point, according to witnesses, that an unknown woman leashed Sadie and drove off with her, leaving Sal absolutely devastated.
“(The goose) chased the car with the dog in it for a little while, then gave up,” the Sanford man wrote.
A week later Sal is still beside himself – he can’t stop honking and protesting the loss of his friend.
“He’s been moping,” Huff said.
“It sorta broke my heart to see the two separated,” the Sanford man wrote. “It sorta broke my heart to see the two separated, it really did. You could tell they were pals.”
“The goose has been different,” neighbor Charles Bull said. “He’s been over in my yard quite a bit. I’m actually petting the goose, which I’ve never done before.”
There are a lot of different theories about the mysterious woman, but nothing conclusive. All people know is that both Sal and Henry Huff are devastated at the loss of their beloved friend Sadie.
