TV show theme song helps family reunite with lost pet

By Anne Shannon

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    LANCASTER, Pennsylvania (WGAL) — Losing a pet can be heartbreaking for a family. But with a little luck and some help from a few strangers, a Lancaster County family found its missing pet.

“When I first looked at the steps, there was this item on the corner and I then paid attention to it, and it was a bird,” Louise Duncan said.

Duncan was concerned about the little bird on the front porch of Christ United Methodist Church.

“I knew it was not a normal bird that comes by because it had an orange or yellow plume,” she said.

Duncan and Pastor Roseann Goldberg-Taylor called the animal rescue group ORCA and corralled the bird into a box.

“He was very feisty. He did not want to be in a box. Did not want to be. Wanted to get out. His claws were already coming out of the little handle hole,” Goldberg-Taylor said.

“Easily picked him up, put him in the carrier, brought him right back to the office,” said Libby Rannels, with ORCA.

ORCA posted pictures of the cockatiel on social media.

“Within the hour – I think it was honestly even 30 minutes – I got the comment from Trish,” Libby Rannels said.

An Ephrata family recognized the bird right away. Their cockatiel, named Lucky, had escaped three years ago. They sent pictures to ORCA to see if it was a match.

“We were pretty sure, like, 90% sure,” Rannels said.

There was a way to be absolutely certain. Lucky’s owners said they taught him to dance to the theme song from The Andy Griffith Show. So, they decided to give it a try.

“He started whistling that song, and the bird started dancing, kind of bobbing his head, so we knew then that it had to be the same bird,” Rannels said.

“What a great song to dance to, I might add. I mean, how many of us don’t like The Andy Griffith Show?” Duncan said.

Lucky’s rescuers don’t think it was a chance he landed at their door.

“We take care of all God’s creatures,” Goldberg-Taylor said.

The family was able to reunite with Lucky. Unfortunately, they now live in a smaller place and can no longer take care of him the way they’d like to. They are working with ORCA to find him a new home.

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