WARWICK-In the 1943 film, "Lassie Come Home," the now famous Collie is sold by its poor family. She then escapes and takes an extraordinary journey home, with a series of adventures known only to the movie audience. Unlike the fictional dog, Simba, a male Shepherd/Doberman mix breed dog recently rescued by the Warwick Valley Humane Society, was headed away from home and his near 50-mile odyssey was never filmed. Whatever adventures he may have had will probably always remain a mystery. In February, the Society's Animal Shelter received a report of a possibly injured or sick stray dog on Cascade Road. When Animal Control arrived, the dog took off into the woods. "We received several sightings over a period of about two weeks," said Suzyn Barron, president of the Humane Society. "When the dog finally settled in one area, we set a trail of food leading to a trap. It took Animal Control two days to finally catch him, most likely because he was running scared and had been on his own for at least two weeks. But we finally captured him." Fortunately the dog was wearing an identification tag from the Township of Washington in Morris County, N.J. The tag did not have a telephone number but it did provide enough information to find the owner. "With just a little effort and some help from the Township's Licensing department," said Barron, "we found that a family recently moved from Argentina and now living in Hackettstown, N.J., had been missing the dog, Simba, since early December." When contacted, the owners insisted that they have never been to Warwick or the surrounding area and that the dog had disappeared from their home. However, since they have three children and now live in a small apartment, they have elected to surrender the large dog to the Warwick Animal Shelter. Since Simba has been missing since December, it's possible that he walked the long distance to Warwick. However, Barron also suspects that a driver may have picked him up and brought him home in an area closer to Warwick. "Simba was obviously taken care of during these last three months because he's thin but not emaciated," she said. "However, we do know that he survived on foot in the woods around Cascade Road for at least two weeks. And that means he went through some pretty heavy snowstorms." According to Barron, Simba, a native of Argentina, would love to be adopted. He's housebroken, obviously well-traveled, bilingual, likes children and would enjoy running in a nice size yard. And, considering all the trouble he took to get here, he must like Warwick. Call the Warwick Animal Shelter at 986-2473.