January 2, 2010
Danielle Robertson, Compassionate Pet Services
Western Massachusetts - Jake, a beagle, had only been living with his new family for three weeks when he broke his leash and took off running after a squirrel on Christmas Eve.
Over the next couple days, his owners and other people saw him numerous times, but he kept running away from everyone who tried to approach him.
He was even seen one day standing across the street from his own home, but when his owner ran outside and called him, he took off again.
Based on sightings and tracks in the snow, Jake appeared to be staying primarily along a narrow ½ mile stretch of land along the Connecticut River that included several people’s yards, some woods, and a couple abandoned buildings.
On December 29th, the family checked with the local animal control officer and found they were able to get a humane trap to use, and Jake was almost trapped in it at one point. However, he escaped when the trap didn’t close properly, and they determined that a larger trap was needed. By this point, Jake’s family was very concerned because the nights were frigid cold and windy, dipping into the single digits.
The family put out a call for the loan of a larger humane trap, and over the next couple of days, several concerned citizens responded to the call by dropping off no fewer than three medium to large dog traps.
All of the traps were set up along the river in locations where Jake had been seen repeatedly. One motion-sensitive wildlife camera was also set up to see if Jake was approaching one of the traps but not entering it. Due to the cold temperatures, the traps had to be checked every couple hours. and were closed for part of the night.
By Friday, January 1st, Jake was photographed on the wildlife camera once as he ran past one of the traps. But other than that, he did not even appear to be going near the traps and eating the food in the entrance. However, the traps had caught several cats.
Finally, on the morning of January 2nd, nine days after his escape, Jake was caught in one of the large humane dog traps and was reunited with his family. His paws were bloody and worn and he had a scratch on his face, but Jake was otherwise okay and happy to be home with his new family.
More information about Compassionate Pet Services in Western Massachusetts is found at their website - http://www.compassionatepetservices.com/
1 comment:
So glad that Jake is home!
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