Submitted by Liam Hughes, Director of Animal Control Field Services, Washington Humane Society
Saturday, June 4th, 2011
For almost a week, Katie had been seen all over the park near her new home and visiting all of the other dogs nearby. Over the past 6 days since Katie went missing we received nearly a dozen calls reporting her whereabouts. A small army of WHS volunteers, most from our PACK program (People & Animal Cardio Klub) and some of her friends from the shelter including Penny (Who is still searching for a home of her own) went to go see if they could find her but by the time someone arrived, she was gone.
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| Katie, after her capture, looking over at her friend! |
Scott Giacoppo and I started to look at the maps of all her sightings and we both figured where Katie was hanging out in. We consulted with one the nation’s top organizations for finding lost pets, The Missing Pet Partnership and with their help we devised a search strategy.
Today, Saturday, June 4th, 2011, I decided to take my sidekick Blazer who has the good habit of finding new dog friends where ever he goes. So with his search harness on we headed out and found a few deer paths that looked promising near where Katie was last seen. Walking through the heavy woods, full of mosquitoes, poison Ivy, more mosquitoes, thorn and sticker bushes, and even more mosquitoes we only found the tracks of deer, raccoons and surprised a few snakes that were not expecting us to be creeping around the woods. We found no dog tracks and nothing that gave us any hope.
We began our mile long walk back and stopped to speak to a few people and some university police officers that had not seen Katie, but promised they would call if they did she her. Blazer and I looked at the map again and decided to try the wooded area on the other side of the search area we were in so we filled up on water and drove off to the next area.
As we rounded the corner to Rosemary Lane, we noticed a woman looking at the lost flyer. When I stopped and asked if she seen Katie, the woman said “yes, she was just here 10 minutes ago. “ She was close! I decided to go back to the house she was just spotted at, and there she was, just sitting in the yard like it was her house!
Now there are 2 ways to catch a dog, you can chase the dog and try to wear it out, that’s the hard way. Dogs tend not to like you afterwards and get very stressed out. Not a good way of catching a dog and I wanted Katie to like me, so the better option was to slowly approach her and with many treats and being as non-threatening as possible. Ask any Animal Control Officer; they know how read what the animals are saying to them. Katie was telling me that she would stick around because I had food but not to get too close. So I laid down on the ground and started feeding her treats.
For about an hour I crawled on my hands and knees, and then slowly belly crawled closer and closer to her. As I inched up to her I never made eye contact with her, I was always looking past her or out of the corner of my eye. I made no sudden movements and even rolled over for her a few times, All the while being attacked by every gnat, fly and mosquito in the county. She realized I wasn’t there to hurt her so she laid there with me in the shade as I got closer.
When I was a foot away she started to sniff me and I began to scratch her under her muzzle. Katie was my friend then and there. I placed the lead around her neck and we slowly walked back to her new mom where Katie’s new harness and leash were put on and drove her back home to where she was finally able to be in her new home.
Katie had a lot of great people and neighbors looking out for her while she was out exploring, but stories like this don’t often get happy endings like Katie’s. Please make sure your pets are licensed and have register microchips. If your local Animal Control Officer does find your pet, they can get them home quickly.
Pet parents should also talk with trainers and make sure their pets know their names. If your pets are trained to come when called those rare times when they might push the gate open or they run past the UPS man, you have a better chance of getting them back inside. Blazer knows his name because we constantly train and positively reinforce the cool things he learns. Katie’s new mom is starting work on that right away and is just happy she is safe and starting her new life.
Katie’s new mom wants to send a big thank you to everyone involved in her search & rescue, and WHS wants to thank the Missing Pet Partnership for their assistance in developing a plan to catch Katie.
If you ever do lose your pet, please contact your animal control department immediately and file a report then visit www.missingpetpartnership.org for the most helpful tips and techniques.
Source: http://washhumane.typepad.com/blog/2011/06/catching-katie.html
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