Carefree Truth

Issue #229, March 25, 2013

 

 

Last Wednesday, March 19th, I was on my way to the Council workshop and I saw a little dog at the top of our street.  I stopped beside her, intending to pick her up, but she ran off into the desert.  I called our friends who were staying with us and they immediately walked down with their Jack Russell Terrier to see if the little dog would come to them with Lil along, but she was gone.

 

 

 

My computer tends to be the community bulletin board, so that evening I sent out an email.  Normally, the message gets to the owner, and the dog gets back to the nearby family.  This case was not normal. 

 

 

 

The community emails I send out also go to representatives in many of the surrounding communities as well as to the residents of Sentinel Rock.  Stephanie, my contact in Provence, thought it sounded like it could be the dog in a poster that was left on Provence's front gate, so she went down the next morning, took a picture of the poster which had a photo of the dog and the owner contact information, and emailed it to me.  Sure enough, it looked like the dog I had seen, so I sent out the poster in another community email.

 

 

 

I got a call from the Bergstroms, saying Roy had seen the dog at the end of their street as he was driving out, so I sent another email and called Marcia, the dog's owner.  We met at 60th Street and Restin Rd.  Several people were already out walking the streets with their little dogs, hoping the dog would come to them, and some were just out looking on their own.  By now, many people were physically involved in the search.  Later, Jo Gemmill came over from Carefree Foothills with a can of "smelly" dog food and joined the search.  She put it down when she spotted the dog, who came right up and started to eat.  Jo was close enough to touch her, but when she turned off her truck, the dog panicked.

 

 

 

We saw the dog briefly, and Marcia, who lives on Spur Cross Rd. in Cave Creek, identified her as her dog Lady, a 17 pound terrier mix she had adopted from the Prescott Humane Society.  Lady had been found abandoned in the desert in Prescott with 5 puppies.  She had begun to bond well with Marcia, who lavished love on her, but reverted to a fearful state when she was once again loose in the desert.  She wouldn't come to anyone, even Marcia.  Marcia had only had her for 11 days when they were out walking on March 13th and Lady got a thorn in her nose.  When Marcia pulled it out, it hurt.  Lady ducked her head, slipped out of her leather collar, and ran.

 

 

 

Beth Malone, who lives in the house on the corner of 60th and Restin, joined us.  Marcia and I drove over to Stagecoach Pass Rd. and Beth herded Lady through the desert to where we were waiting.  Sure enough, Lady showed up in Ramsey's driveway at the corner of 58th St. and Stagecoach Pass a few minutes later.  Marcia approached her, speaking softly, and Lady stood waiting for her.  As she was almost there, a trash truck pulled in from Cave Creek Rd., and the terrified terrier dashed away.

 

 

 

She was seen again back on 60th St., so we returned and were walking around.  Suddenly, I heard the sound of running water and followed it to the source, a fountain in the courtyard of Jeannie and Don Stolper.  Ah ha!  Her water supply was found!  As I rang their doorbell, Don was hanging up his cell phone.  He had been calling me (frustratingly, my cell had just died for good; I got a new one that night) to report seeing Lady in his back yard.  

 

 

 

After stopping at Animal Health Services (AHS) to buy one of the soft braided fabric slip knot collars they sell there, so Lady couldn't repeat the head through the collar performance on a future walk, Marcia and I began our quest to find a humane dog trap.  We started at the Wild Holly Gallery, since Holly Bergman is the current president of Foothills Animal Rescue, but FAR did not have a trap.  We proceeded on to Carefree Town Hall.  Janeen Dutcher fosters for a local rescue and we thought they might have one.  Bev Peterson, another Carefree staff member, overheard us.  She called her husband Pete and he unearthed theirs from storage.  We drove to their house and Pete showed us how to set it.  Stolpers gave us permission to put it in their courtyard  by the fountain.

 

 

 

Marcia said she had been told that Lady hates crates, so we were concerned that she would avoid going in the little wire cage.  That fear turned out to be valid when the trap was empty the next morning, with the food still in it.  At that point, I turned to Marie Peck, founder and president of the Fetch Foundation, another local rescue. Marie gave us the name and number of the excellent dog trapper she uses.  Mike Shelby came over with his large trap cage and set it up under a big bush just off the street in front of Stolper's house.  Marsha brought food, water, Lady's favorite blanket which we draped over the cage, and Lady's favorite little rug, which was placed in front of the cage's entry.

 

 

 

Saturday morning, the food was gone but the cage door was still open, so Mike came back and tweaked it to make the trap more sensitive.  Sunday morning, once again, Lady was not in the cage.  She was just too light to spring the big trap, no matter how sensitive the setting.  Mike, who had hurt his back before the adventure began, had to withdraw, since he had further injured his back doing this.  

 

 

 

I had not returned the small, size appropriate trap to Bev and Pete yet, so Herbert and I brought it down and met Marcia there.  Don and Herbert set the small one next to the big one and closed the door to the big one.  The hope was that she had gotten used to going into the big one for food, so finding the door closed, would proceed into the small one without fear to eat the fresh food Marcia placed there.  We draped her blanket over the tops of both cages, under the big bush that provided shade.

 

 

 

Shortly before 5 PM on Sunday, we got a call from Marcia. Don had been monitoring the cage and called her.  Lady was in the trap!  Herbert and I went there immediately.  Don was standing guard.  We loaded the trap into the bed of the pick up truck with Lady still in it, and met Marcia at AHS, where she was safely released.  Lady immediately raced to Marcia and was climbing all over her.  She was ecstatic to see Mom!!!!!!  Marcia was in tears.

 

 

 

Other than being extremely dusty, Lady didn't seem any the worse for wear, although a vet at AHS checked her over to make sure all was well.  I called Marcia later last night.  She said Lady was very thin and completely exhausted, but other than that, was fine.  However, we think her reserves were at the breaking point, and she probably would not have survived another night in the desert. 

 

 

 

Throughout this ordeal, so many people continued to look for her.  The reports on her whereabouts allowed us pinpoint the area in which to set the trap, and constant emails about Lady sightings kept coming, so we knew she was alive and kicking.  Many even emailed from surrounding communities, sending messages expressing hope that Lady would be reunited with Marcia.  A lot of people were pulling for this little girl.  Thanks a million for everything you all did.  This wouldn't have been possible without the involvement of so many dedicated volunteers.  You made this nearly impossible happy ending come to pass.  Attached is a picture of Lady in the trap that Herbert took with his iPhone. 

 

 

Lyn Hitchon

 

 

 

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

Leo Buscaglia

 

 

 

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