Joe Kennedy

Joe Kennedy is routinely named the region's best writer by readers of The Roanoker magazine.

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The well-traveled road between U.S. 460 and U.S. 11 in Botetourt County is known to locals as "604," a reference to the days when it was designated Virginia 604.

Now it's four-lane U.S. 220 Alternate, also known as Cloverdale Road, which runs between Bonsack and Cloverdale.

The four lanes make it safer than it used to be, but it's still an exciting place at times, and this is one of those times.

The reason: a dog.

A hound dog.

A hound dog that, as far as anybody knows, ain't never caught a rabbit and ain't no friend to motorists and the people who see it on the highway.

Reported to authorities as a "hound mix" that is white with brown and black spots, the dog has turned up in the vicinity of the Botetourt Athletic Club for about six weeks, usually in the morning and evening but at other times as well.

"It's kind of a running conversation at the gym," said Kim Treadway, who works there and at the Downhome Pharmacy next door.

Heart-stopper

The dog crosses the highway uneasily, sometimes stopping in the traffic lanes.

"Anytime it gets out there and crosses the road, people are going to try to dodge it," said Sgt. W.D. Horton, the head of Botetourt County Animal Control.

That prompts fear that the dog or people may be injured or killed.

"I can't even watch," Treadway said.

The problem is not unique or even all that unusual, Horton said. Similar situations occur three or four times each summer.

"We've got another problem going on in the county not too far from there -- the same issue. We've tried everything in the world."

That dog "recognizes the [animal control] vehicle and it's gone by the time you get close to it."

Somebody's pet?

What's unusual about the dog on Cloverdale Road is its regular schedule of appearances and its condition, which appears to be good.

"He looks too healthy to not be taken care of," said Treadway, who has seen the dog feeding near trash bins behind two restaurants and even petted it once.

People have speculated about its origins.

"I think somebody dropped him off and just didn't care," said April Roach, a waitress at the Fried Pickle restaurant and soda fountain next to the pharmacy. She's spotted the dog walking on the road's shoulder.

Others wonder if it belongs to someone in the neighborhood, and whether it should be running at large, as the saying goes.

"The area where the dog is running has no leash law," Horton said. Botetourt's leash law applies only in the county's southern subdivisions.

If the hound enters a nearby subdivision, someone's violating the law. The dog has no collar or tag. Having no tag is a violation no matter where it may roam.

If it's spotted by an animal control officer, and if the owner is located, then the owner could be brought to court.

Charges could include the dog's lack of a tag and possible lack of rabies inoculation and its running free in a subdivision.

All three are misdemeanors. The rabies issue and the leash law violation require a court appearance, Horton said.

Between Feb. 12 and March 13, eight calls about the dog came in to animal control.

A deputy recently saw it and stopped, but it took off before he could do anything.

Once upon a time, tranquilizer guns were used in these situations, but that time has passed, owing to liability concerns.

That leaves eyewitnesses, who should report the dog the moment they see it, and stick around to show the officers where it is.

Horton and his two officers have all visited the area. None has seen it, and the live trap they've set has gone unsprung.

Here is some advice if you're the owner: Get a clue.

People could get killed or hurt, and so could your dog -- assuming that you give a flip.