By Joshua Errett

It’s a familiar story: boy walks down street, finds stray dog, NDP canvasser comes to the rescue. In last night’s version, that stray dog was a chow chow and that boy was Torontoist.
En route to Sneaky Dee’s, we took note of a black fluffy chow chow sitting by a pole at College and Grace. We were immediately alarmed by the shivers of the lost chow, and resolved to at least check her tags. The chow took off, with a slight limp, up Grace. Torontoist, growing more concerned, gave chase. After the chow ducked down the first alley on the street – taking refuge in a shallow enclave – Torontoist took a quick survey of the nearest residence. We rang the doorbell to no avail.
About 30 seconds later, a woman in an SUV stopped by to inform us the chow was hiding out right next to the very door where she belonged. Torontoist knocked on that door, and later the windows of the house. Without any response from the chow chow’s owners, and against the bitterness of winter, hope was dwindling.
And then, like a bright orange angel, an NDP canvasser appeared out of nowhere (College, actually).
“Are you trying to find out where this chow chow belongs?” she asked.
“We think she lives in this house…but no one’s home,” we said.
“You know, Chinese people love chows. I’ll check my list and call its owner,” said the Good Samaritan New Democrat.
Although no one answered the phone, the chow was eventually let into the gate. And there you have a heart-warming story of a lost chow chow and her improbable journey home.