Search for Missing Kangaroo Thursday Has a Hoppy Ending

Dispatchers at the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office didn’t know what to think last Thursday when Deputy Joe Gonzales radioed in to report a kangaroo on the side of the road.

Chief Deputy Randy Noviskie of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office said Gonzales was on his way to an unrelated call around 5 p.m. on Feb. 27. Gonzales was driving down Farek Loth Rd. between FM 609 and Freyburg when he spotted the unusual creature.

“He came on the radio saying, ‘I’m going to be out with a kangaroo, I think, wearing a red coat,” Noviskie said. “Everybody listening was like, ‘Really?’ But it really was. That’s something we hadn’t come across yet.”

Sgt. Ron Naumann of the Sheriff’s Office made his way to the scene. Noviskie said they didn’t quite know how to handle the situation at first.

“We called our animal control officer, Dean Ahlschlager, he came out, but he’s never dealt with one, either,” Noviskie said. “You know, they’re kind of deceiving when they stand up, they’re a lot taller than you think.”

Noviskie said he was about to call some local cowboys to rope the animal and get it into an enclosed trailer until the owners could be found. But then a neighbor drove by, recognized the animal, and knew where it belonged. Local veterinarian Dr. Kurt Kainer happened to drive by on his way to a farm call. He stopped to assist as well.

“It was real friendly,” Kainer said of the animal.

Gonzales, Naumann, Ahlschlager and Kainer corralled the kangaroo and gently walked it along the fenceline until it hopped into its owner’s driveway. By that time the owner came down the driveway and reunited with the stray marsupial.

Noviskie said the officers learned that the pet kangaroo was named Jack. He apparently escaped from a fenced yard on the owner’s property.

“The owner thanked everybody and got Jack back into his yard,” Noviskie said.

Before the owner was found, however, the Sheriff’s Office posted a photo of the kangaroo on Facebook. The story went viral and earned a mention on television and radio news programs around the state Thursday evening.

“People love animals, and a kangaroo out in Fayette County just doesn’t make sense,” Noviskie said.

“Our deputies are faced with so much, so many different things,” he added. “So this is a really nice story to end the week with.”

Noviskie said the Sheriff’s Office got inundated with calls from people who thought Jack was another pet kangaroo that went missing in the Cat Spring area late last year. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of that kangaroo, named Rowdy, remain unknown.