Thousands Hope to Reunite ‘Lambchop’ with Its Owner

A stuffed lamb sits near the entrance to Best Buy on North Atherton Street greeting customers as they come in for holiday shopping.

It’s not part of a holiday promotion, and it’s not for sale. ‘Lambchop,’ as it has come to be known, is a child’s lost companion, and it has struck an emotional chord with thousands of community members who want to see the stuffed animal reunited with its owner.

Pet Recovery of Centre County, a popular Facebook page that has frequent posts to help reunite lost and found cats and dogs with their owners, spotted Lambchop and posted a photo earlier this week. 

To date that post has more than 78,000 views and has been shared 1,675 times. But so far, Lambchop’s owner has not been found.

Best Buy staff member Ian Henrickson said the best estimate is that the stuffed animal was found on Dec. 12 and then set out in hopes the owner would return to claim it. He and other staff members have been surprised, and touched, by the massive interest in getting Lambchop back home.

‘We never expected something which seems so small with everything going on this time of year to cause such a reaction from the public,’ Henrickson said. ‘It’s become an icon almost to the store now. People come in to see it, see if it’s still here and ask questions about it.’

Staff have been trying to do some detective work to figure out who may have left it.

‘We’ve tried to talk to all the employees about where it was found, the time and location,’ Henrickson said. ‘We began reviewing a little bit of the footage to see what we can do.’

But so far, no luck. So Lambchop waits at his post, while community members share the story in hopes of seeing a sentimental reunion.