Dog forgives neutering, chooses veterinary office as home

It’s not every day that a dog runs away from home to return to the veterinarian who neutered him.

But Joplin vet Steve Walstad said that’s what he found when he drove past his office on Nov. 11.

A black, mixed-breed dog named Radar was lying in front of the Animal Clinic at 710 S. New Hampshire Ave.



Walstad boarded Radar for several weeks and neutered him while the dog’s owner was out of town. When the owner, who did not want to be identified, came to pick him up on Nov. 8, Radar seemed hesitant to leave. Three days later, he jumped the fence at his home and was back at Walstad’s office.

“I opened the door of the clinic and he ran right inside, into the back and settled right into his cage like he belonged there,” Walstad said. “I gave him some food and water and a hug, and he looked as happy as he could be.”

Walstad said most dogs have a sense of home that sometimes leads them over great distances back to their owners, but he said that in 28 years of practicing animal medicine in Joplin, he’s never heard of a dog returning to the vet’s office. Walstad said Radar’s owner had been looking for a new home for the dog and offered to let the vet keep him.