By Mark LaFlamme,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Sammy the Rottweiler took no time at all getting settled into his new home. Nearly three weeks after he was struck by a car and abandoned, the 3-year-old dog was adopted by a Sabattus woman who read about his plight.

“He’s settling right in. He’s made himself right at home on the couch,” said Terri Bade, who took Sammy home on Monday. “He’s a very well-mannered dog.”

The dog was struck by a car at the start of the month in Canton, according to Steve Dostie, director of the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society.

An animal control officer brought Sammy to the Auburn shelter with a broken leg and scrapes. It was there that he got his name. He spent a night at the Lisbon Road Animal Hospital in Lewiston. It was then recommended that the dog be taken to Dr. Todd Gauger, an orthopedic specialist at the Norway Veterinary Hospital.

“It’s a pretty bad break,” Dostie said at the time of Sammy’s busted leg. “The fracture is so severe, they had to repair it using pins and plates.”

In recent weeks, Bade began going to the shelter to get acquainted with Sammy.

“I’ve been going there to take him for walks, letting him get used to me,” she said. “It was a good fit. He’s an excellent dog.”

For days after they received the dog, Dostie and others tried to locate Sammy’s owner. No one came forward. So they posted information about the animal on their Web site and told the story to the Sun Journal.

Bade came along soon after.

“She had owned a Rottweiler in the past and was moved by his story and visited him a few days after he came back from the vets,” Dostie said. “They quickly bonded and she visited him several times every week. They enjoyed their time together.”

Bade said Sammy is walking around easily these days, though he still has trouble with stairs. And the pair has the rest of the week to get further accustomed to each other’s company.

“I have three days off,” Bade said. “That will give me more time to bond with him.”

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