On March 17, 2012
PAWS is thrilled to announce that the last of the missing PAWS dogs, Lilly, is finally home after 262 days in the wild!
Lilly is an elderly black lab mix that got away from her adoptive family on June 28th, 2011. Lilly had only arrived to the DC metro area a mere two days before from the PAWS sanctuary in Missouri. She was a “worst case scenario” to lose- timid, desperately fearful of people, and completely unfamiliar with her surroundings.
PAWS volunteers immediately launched into action. We organized massive volunteer searches with up to 30 people and placed over 2,000 posters and fliers in the area Lilly was lost. We then arranged for three humane traps to be monitored by motion detected cameras and checked by incredible volunteers three times a days. We sent out 1,000 postcards to the neighbors through Pet Harbor, and three rounds of automated telephone messages through FindToto. Every animal control unit, veterinary clinic, police station, fire department, highway department, school, and church were notified. Thousands of emails went out to Yahoo message groups and local rescue groups. A “Help Us Find Lilly” blog and facebook page were created.
When all of that didn’t work, we flew her best dog friend, Cheyenne, from Vermont to DC with a volunteer Pilot through PilotsnPAWs to aid in the search. Thousand of dollars were spent and an entire community was looking for a black mutt that had once been dumped on the side of the road and shot at by an uncaring owner.
During the first month, we received multiple phone calls reporting sightings. But as time went on- fewer and fewer calls came in. Our last reliable sighting was September 9th, 2011. After that, things went dead for seven long, painful months. We kept trying different ideas to continue to reach out to the public, but none of our efforts yielded anything.
That all changed on March 7th, 2012. A lovely woman named Sylvia called and said, ““I think I may have been feeding your dog for the last six months.” Sylvia’s description of Lilly was impeccable- down to the speckled white spots on her feet. She said she had noticed a timid black dog who started coming to her property late September and eating the food she put out for the birds and squirrels. She said the dog would never allow her to approach, but had become quite comfortable lounging in her yard for hours on end. She had named the dog “Lucky” and noticed a sign at the grocery store with “Lucky’s" picture on it, but the sign called the dog Lilly.
We frantically ran to the property to put up cameras as Sylvia said that Lilly arrived every day between 7am-9am. The following morning, when this picture of Lilly appeared on my cell phone, I burst into tears. I had dreamed of the moment I would receive a new picture of Lilly- alive and safe. Shaking all over, I made phone calls to the volunteers who had spent well over 300 hours searching for her. Volunteers who had never even met Lilly and never even knew me prior to Lilly going missing. I called her previous foster Mom in Missouri who could not speak and sobbed with excitement.
Watch the video footage of Sylvia feeding Lilly HERE
Not willing to risk anything going wrong, we have hired Steve Hagey who owns “Detect a Pet USA” and has been trapping elusive animals for the last 10 years. Steve uses an elaborate “enclosure system” over the course of 2-4 days using 7ft high wiring camouflaged in the environment the dog came to on a day to day basis. He would place a piece of fencing and then judge the dog’s comfort level with the use surveillance and photos. As long as the dog was comfortable- he would continue to put up the enclosure piece by piece. When it was finally complete, he would monitor the enclosure from afar and use a remote control to close the small gate that led into the enclosure- effectively capturing the lost dog.
He began the project on Tuesday Lilly was not at all phased. By Wednesday, Steve sent a message saying that he believed Lilly would be captured late Thursday night or early Friday morning. The next 48 hours were some of the longest days of all of our lives. We agonized that something would go wrong. But Steve remained steadfast and quietly went about his job. On Thursday afternoon, Steve sent another message letting us know that the enclosure was complete and he was now on the property to monitor the trap until Lilly was captured. None of us slept that night and when Steve called me at 03:36am to say, “”Kelly, we have her. She’s safe!” I could hardly think straight.
So many things go through your head at once.. You think you must still be dreaming. You think that it is too good to be true. You think that maybe another dog must be caught… And then you find yourself operating in automatic pilot, “Oh my god Steve- thank you. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.”
The drive to Beltsville to get Lilly was a blur. 9 months of agony, the side stories, all the people that have helped you get to this moment- flash in a completely illogical sequence.
My heart was beating so hard when I arrived to Sylvia’s house. Lilly was in a humane trap wide-eyed, but calmer than I would have ever imagined her to be. Sylvia was speaking to her in the most gentle and soothing voice. We carried her trap to the garage where she was transferred into a crate and placed in the car.
And then, at 430 in the morning, five people who had never known each other prior to Lilly’s adventure cried, laughed, and uttered the phrase, “I don’t believe it” at least seven hundred times. Lilly looked on cautiously, and, when she got tired of the chatter- laid her head down in the crate and drifted off to sleep.
I’m sure many more details will come to mind as the days go on, but all that matters right now is that it is raining and Lilly is inside where she is nice and warm.
We invite you to follow Lilly as she transitions to a life back inside on her blog. Here you will find her first pancake breakfast, her reunion with Cheyenne, and photos of her sleeping comfortably on every dog bed in the house.
There are so many people to thank for this rescue but we would like to send an extra special thank you to Suzanne Arnold, Yvonne Curry, and Dana Amato for the hundreds of hours they put in looking for Lilly. Elly Rivera from Pork Chop’s Way for fostering and then adopting Cheyenne. Ted Ladd with the Beltsville News for his three stories about Lilly and WTOP for their radio spot about her. Thank you to the many people who came out looking, helped put up signs, scoured local pounds, called in sightings, and sent us encouraging emails. And of course, this rescue would never have been possible without the amazing Sylvia Walker who kept Lilly alive for the last seven months and the phenomenal Steve Hagey with Detect-a-Pet USA who is the man responsible for getting her home. We are overwhelmed by the level of community support and will forever be grateful to all of you…
Source & more photos: http://www.pawsnewengland.com/lilly-is-home-after-262-days-missing/
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