That wasn't John Travolta cruising across York County on Wednesday in a black Lincoln Town Car stretch limousine with sun roof and tinted windows.It was Crystal, a 35-pound Chinese Shar-Pei who is looking for a new home.
The blonde, short-haired, pedigree dog with the wrinkled face was on her way from the Helen O. Krause Animal Foundation Shelter in Franklin Twp. to the Operation Scarlet Shar-Pei rescue league in Lancaster.
The limo ride isn't the rescue league's usual mode of transport. But board member Valerie Taylor, who owns Harrisburg Corporate Limousine Service, donated the wheels in honor of the league's 500th rescue.
Taylor is also hoping the publicity will help the sweet-tempered pooch get a good home.
Crystal took the limo and the celebrity lifestyle without any coaxing. Wearing a red-and-yellow bow and a faux leopard doggie coat supplied by Taylor, Crystal posed for pictures and freely distributed kisses all around.
Accompanying her on the ride was Dawn Hertzog, who founded Operation Scarlet in 1991 and named it after the first Shar-Pei she rescued. Scarlet had been left tied to a barn door.
Operation Scarlet rescues homeless, abandoned and neglected Shar-Pei dogs throughtout the United States and finds them new homes. Hertzog said she has received dogs from as far away as California and adopted them out to places as distant as Germany.
She first became attached to the "terrifically loyal," intelligent and affectionate Shar-Pei breed after her grandmother gave her one years ago, Hertzog said.
The breed nearly became extinct in China after Mao Tse Tung imposed a heavy tax on pet ownership in 1973. Dogs were slaughtered by the thousands and eaten by peasants who could no longer afford to own them, Hertzog said.
A Shar-Pei breeder in Hong Kong appealed to American dog breeders for help and shipped about 20 dogs to this country, starting what became a Shar-Pei craze.
"If you're a couch potato, the dog will love it. They just love to hang out. We refer to them as Velcro dogs," Hertzog said. "They just stick to you."
Helen Krause Animal Foundation volunteer Paulette Siene received a call about Crystal early last month. She had been wandering a patch of woods in York Springs for about two weeks and the caller had been feeding her and trying to find her owner, Siene said.
The caller brought Crystal to Boiling Springs Animal Hospital, where she was operated on for a benign golf-ball sized cyst on her back, Siene said. Then Crystal came to the Krause shelter to recover.
"She is a sweet, sweet girl. A little nervous and shy, but she's going to be fine," Hertzog said before the limo ride.
A red carpet awaited Crystal's arrival at the rescue league's shelter. Also scheduled to arrive yesterday was the league's 501st dog, in a recreational vehicle from Georgia, and 502nd dog, in an unidentified vehicle from Philadelphia, Hertzog said.Crystal is probably 3 or 4 years old. She has been spayed and has received all her shots. Anyone interested in adopting her can call Hertzog at (717) 397-6362.
