Construction Crew Takes Starving Dog Into Hearts

A soft-hearted construction crew has adopted a 7-year-old miniature schnauzer found starving and shivering under a canal bridge.

Workers at the Edison Street interchange project found the salt-and-pepper pooch Thursday. She wore no collar and cringed when the men tried to pet her.

Inspector Al Nordby carried the canine to construction headquarters, a single-wide trailer overlooking Columbia Park, and said to his boss: “You save that little dog, you’ll be my friend for life.”

At first, project engineer Gary Griffice of Stimpel-Wiebelhaus Associates was uncertain.

“I don’t know much about schnauzers,” he said.

But when crew members started affectionately calling the dog “Edison,” it was all over for Griffice. He couldn’t resist.

“I’m in the office more than anyone else so I got dog duty,” he said.

A corner of the trailer was rigged up for Edison’s comfort with a bed of blankets and a nearby heater.

On Friday, Edison went to a veterinarian for a check up.

“She is the proverbial rack of bones,” Dr. Robert Privette said, estimating that the dog hadn’t eaten in three weeks.

She weighed six pounds. When she’s healthy, she should reach 15 pounds.

When the construction project is finished, Griffice plans to take Edison home to his three kids in Redding, Calif.

If the real owners should surface, Griffice said he would return the adopted stray. But he doesn’t enjoy the thought of giving up Edison.

“Everybody’s a sucker for her because she’s got that sad little face,” Griffice said. “She’s our company mascot now.”