Got this note last night from my beloved former veterinarian up in the Pacific Northwest:<\/p>\n
I thought this may make you smile. I had a visit … from an outlaw last night. Someone left a note attached to a $100.00 bill shoved in the front door of the clinic. The note said, \u201cI had some extra cash while passing through, please use it to care for an animal in need.\u201d It was signed “Colton Harris-Moore AKA the barefoot bandit.” [My receptionist] found it and was busy trying to figure out which client left it when I came in. After reading the note, I knew who it was right away — although I wasn’t sure the gift was really from him.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The sheriff didn’t immediately recall the name Harris-Moore, either, when my vet phoned. But he quickly got it and referred the incident to (believe it or not, there really is such a thing) the Island County Fugitive Apprehension Specialist, in the area where “Colt’s” career began.<\/p>\n
The specialist assured her the note and gift were most likely from the real barefoot bandit — who has always shown sympathy for abused animals and who is famous for surviving and hiding out in wooded areas (and she’s in as wooded an area as you’ll find anywhere). <\/p>\n
She was both charmed by the gift and a little creeped out knowing that a notorious loose-cannon fugitive had been at her clinic and home when she was there alone. I’m also making a guess that Colt might have been in the area for some time. Perhaps he just chose a vet’s office at random, but it seems quite a coincidence that he would select the one vet in the area who is most associated with animal rescue and the wellfare of unwanted dogs and cats if he hadn’t been around long enough to know that.<\/p>\n
If the name Colton Harris-Moore doesn’t ring a bell with you, you’re probably not from the Pacific Northwest. <\/p>\n
Here’s a London Times<\/i> story on him<\/a><\/p>\n
And a Time<\/i> magazine article<\/a>.<\/p>\n
And his Wikipedia entry<\/a>.<\/p>\n