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Police dog wandered about eight miles

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Authorities in Indiana said a police dog escaped from its kennel and was found about eight miles away 19 hours after the escape.

Columbia City Police Chief Tim Longenbaugh said Stryker, a 6-year-old brindle-colored Dutch shepherd used for tracking and drug detecting, escaped from his Collins kennel around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette reported Thursday.

Longenbaugh said an Allen County resident living about eight miles from the kennel called police around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday and reported she has discovered a dog matching the description of the missing police pooch wandering in her yard.

The chief said Stryker did not appear to have any injuries or health problems stemming from his journey.

"We believe he was about eight miles from home," Longenbaugh said. "It was a long night for him."

911 pocket dial leads to drug arrest

ORANGE CITY, Fla., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Authorities in Florida said they arrested a man who accidentally called 911 while allegedly talking about selling drugs.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office said dispatchers contacted deputies around 9:42 p.m. Tuesday and told them an apparent accidental 911 caller was discussing drug dealing with two other people, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported Thursday.

The cellphone was tracked to a pickup truck and the vehicle was pulled over by deputies.

The owner of the phone, Matthew Dollarhide, 19, of Orange City, was driving the truck and had two passengers.

"Deputy Cranmer asked the three about why they were talking about selling drugs and they could not explain this," the deputy wrote in the report.

The sheriff's office said Dollarhide was found to be carrying a pipe used to smoke crack cocaine. Dollarhide said the pipe belonged to his father and was in his pocket because he did not want his landlord to see it at his home.

Dollarhide was arrested on a drug paraphernalia charge.

Hemingway's gate for sale on eBay

KEY WEST, Fla., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A Florida charity is auctioning the original gate from Ernest Hemingway's Key West home on eBay.

The auction, which had a high bid of $2,877.99 with eight days left to go Thursday afternoon, states the gate was formerly a part of the brick wall built around the writer's home in 1935, which is now the Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum.

The museum replaced the gate because it allowed cats to escape the property and the relic was donated to Helpline, a non-profit Key West phone line aimed at giving information and referrals to people in crisis.

City considers rat bounty

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- Officials in a Michigan city said they are considering a $5-per-rat bounty to help combat the local rodent problem.

St. Clair Shores Acting City Manager Mike Smith said the bounty proposal is among the measures being considered by the city, which is also mulling more secure trash cans and education programs for residents on how to keep the rats away from their homes, WJBK-TV, Detroit, reported Thursday.

"When we first heard it, it was like oh come on. Really? A bounty. But then we talked about it some more. We said if it does help us find out where the issues are, it may be something worth considering. We know we're not going to trap our way out of rats being in existence," Smith said.

However, some residents fighting infestations said they think a bounty program would be a waste of funds.

"The bounty for the rats I think is kind of ridiculous," homeowner Heather Hawkins said. "Five dollars a rat -- I could've gotten $55 this summer. That's $55 they could've put towards solving the problem."