Sorry if our cursing woke you, but this just happened. 😪. Well, I guess we'll have to set the Missy.
You all are awesome! Thanks for the good vibes! We FINALLY got her!
Another dog safe and off of the streets! Animal Control contacted us about a German Shepherd that was running loose near the Spotsy YMCA. Actually, a friend had contacted me that morning about him, too. She had seen him and stopped her car, but the dog ran off. She left food and water for him, hoping he'd come back. AC had several calls all day long about him, and he was always somewhere in the same vicinity. So, we used my friend's spot as a feeding station and added a camera. But, the dog never showed. So, last night, we moved the camera and feeding station to another spot that was still very close by. At 8:00 this morning, the dog showed up at the feeding station! I was out replenishing food in the trap for another dog (which had the nerve to not show up over night!!), so it was around 9:00 this morning before I could get there with a trap. And the skies opened up while I was out! Drenched to the bone, I came home to change clothes and dry off. About an hour and a half later, the dog came back and was trapped! A couple of reports had said that he was wearing a collar with tags, but at the time of trapping, and on camera a few hours before, he was not wearing a collar. The shelter will scan for a microchip as soon as he calms down a bit.
There was a post on the lost and found page about a golden retriever who had been showing up at a house for a couple of weeks, but was skittish and would run when anyone tried to get him. We were having trouble trying to get hold of the person who made the post, and then we saw another post where the dog was spotted about 2 miles away. We put out a camera and feeding station, but never saw the dog. Then, the dog reappeared at the original house (he had disappeared for 3 days) and we finally were able to get an address! A trap was set this afternoon (in the pouring rain!), and within 3 hours we had him! He's microchipped, but not registered (*sigh*). So, he's on stray hold at the Spotsy shelter. He's VERY skittish and does not seem to walk on a leash. So, if anyone is thinking of adopting him, they will have their hands full! Thank you Bethany and Danny for doing all of the right things so that we could trap this sweet pup! (Sweet tick-covered pup!)
Remember the "Lafayette Blvd" dog? After his stray hold, he was adopted by someone who lives outside of Richmond. He's been there for about a month and a half -- he and his hairless kitty sibling (a Sphynx!) are now best friends!
UPDATE: Callie had her dental this morning and she did great! They pulled a lot of teeth and removed the roots of many broken teeth. She's left with only 1 canine tooth (on the bottom) and 4 teeth at the front of her lower jaw. She's now enjoying the pain killer that she's on, and dislikes taking the antibiotic. She feels better already!
Someone contacted us about a couple of community cats who were not looking good. They were captured by the person who contacted us (we've helped her before). This is Callie. She's in dire need of a dental. It's scheduled for tomorrow. She's a super sweet cat, at least 12 years old. She will be available for adoption as soon as she's recovered and the shelter has space (unless we can convince the vet tech who fell in love with her to adopt her!)
Our first bear on camera this year....
This little stinker was in her foster home for a week when she decided to go on a little exploration. The foster has a metal fence -- the type with the bars that are about 4" apart. She knew that the dog could get through it, so she bought plastic fencing mesh which she added to the fence in order to keep the pup in. The only mistake was that she zip tied it to the fence bars, but not to the bottom bar of the fence. And this stinker figured out how to push it up far enough to get out! Initially, the pup was put in a metal dog pen in the back yard, but she figured out how to grab on to a panel and lift it so she could get out! I think this dog was some sort of a building engineer in her previous life!
She spent a night out in the woods, showing up on the security cameras, but would run when anyone tried to approach her. So, we were called to help. I set up the trap in the morning, but she didn't show up until 12:30 a.m. Luckily, she likes Vienna sausages and went right in the trap! When the photo came through on my phone, I thought it was a cat visiting the trap, so I shut my eyes (at 12:30 a.m. I am usually sound asleep!). Then Laura called to say that the dog was trapped! I tried to argue, stating "but I just saw a cat at the trap" and she said "no, it's a dog!". In my defense, I was told that it was a chihuahua.... it may have chihuahua in it, but I would not call it a chihuahua.....lol. Whatever she is, she's not going outside unless she's on a martingale collar and a leash!
We headed to Stafford this morning to pick up the trap we used for the Shepherd last night, and on the way there, someone had tagged me on a post on Spotsy Talk that had a picture of the "Lafayette Blvd" dog! He'd been hanging around a house on Lafayette all morning! So, on the way back to Fredericksburg, we planned on refreshing the trap we'd set for him (he was only about 3 streets away), but as we passed the location where he'd been seen, we saw that he was still there! So, we turned around and went back to the house and put the trap in the driveway. The homeowner was outside with her kids and dog, and she had been able to feed him from her hand. So, we gave her a slip lead, just in case. It took him a few minutes to decide that he didn't need to hide behind the house next door, and he worked his way to the trap. Woo Hoo! Got him! We know he's been out for at least 9 days. No identification and not neutered, so he'll be on a 5 day stray hold and can then go up for adoption!
Pepper is home after 5 days on the lam! He escaped from his new family at the vets office, and headed for the woods! The family quickly put EFFECTIVE signs up, and sightings came in. He was staying in the same vicinity, although he did cross busy Rt. 3 a couple of times. Animal Control (King George) put out a trap, and on day 4 Pepper was seen in the trap, but it didn't close! We took out a better trap and a camera. Pepper hung out at the trap all night -- from 12:45 a.m. to 7:30 a.m., but never went in our trap. I was a bit nervous that the trap may not be big enough if he stretched or spun quickly, so this morning I switched it out for our big 72" trap. Pepper showed up in the mid-afternoon, but didn't go in the trap. But, when he came back in the early evening, he worked his way in further and further until he went far enough that he was trapped! Welcome home, Pepper! We're glad you're safe! And everyone in the home should sleep well tonight -- human and canine!
AC called us about a yellow lab that they could not catch. A friend of mine has posted seeing her on her property. As it turns out, the dog had been around for about 2 weeks, after the owner had taken her to the park to play fetch and she took off. My friend does TNR and had cat food out in order to trap the cats that were coming to her yard (so that she can get them fixed and vaccinated -- that's what TNR is all about! Trap - Neuter - Release). So, the dog had found a food source. Plus, there was a pond behind the house that was fun to swim in, and a big field to sunbathe in! She had been seen at various hours -- around noon, 5:00 p.m. 3:00 a.m., and other times that weren't noted. Since she was coming during the day, the property owner bungeed the trap open at 10:00 p.m. the first night. That's when the dog showed up at 3:00 a.m. She went in the trap and ate everything except for the "rawhide" (not one of the crappy ones that's bleached and heavily processed that I would never give to my dogs, now that I know how they are made and what they are made with). She reset the trap at 6:15 a.m. when she let for work. I was up and dressed in case the dog came early. At 6:16 a.m. a cat when in the trap and set it off. *sigh*. I went and released the cat. I was halfway home when another cat went in and got trapped. *double sigh*. I released him. Then, I made sure that there was food on ground level for the cats, hoping that they would leave the trap alone. And they did! At about 11:00, I headed over for a "stakeout", hoping she'd show up. She didn't. I left at 1:15, and had to bungee the trap open because neither Laura nor I could respond if she was trapped until after 4:00. I was dealing with another case, and Laura went over and set the trap when she was off of work. She did a stakeout for a few hours, then went home. By 9:30 p.m. we were both saying how we could hardly keep our eyes open, so I asked the property owner if she'd bungee the trap open
Brishen is home after a 7 day adventure! Mom was doing some extreme house cleaning when the weather was so nice. A window was open for fresh air. But the kids took it as an invitation to play with it and loosened the screen. Brishen got out without anyone seeing him. Signs were put up and searches were made. After a few days they received a call from someone on the next street that he was showing up at her house and she was feeding him. But he ran whenever he saw a human. Then they reached out to us for help. We immediately put out a camera and trap at the feeders house. He showed up at his regular time but had no interest in the trap. So, the next day, we switched to a small dog trap and a more enticing food. He showed up on schedule but left after just a few seconds. Then another cat showed up and had the nerve to "mark" the trap! About 3 hours later, Brishen came back and this time he went in the trap! Welcome home!! Your family has missed you horribly!!
This 7 month old pyrenees puppy went missing from her foster home 2 days ago. All sorts of well-meaning people had all sorts of ideas on how to find her -- drone, walk the siblings around the neighborhood, walk the mom around the neighborhood, etc. But, none of these ideas were good, and all could have done more harm than good. This is a skittish dog who has had very little human contact in her first 1/2 year in this world, and humans will just push her away (because they exist, not because they are trying to). But the pup was seen in her foster's yard a couple of times in the wee hours of the morning, so they contacted us. We set up a trap and cameras at 12:30. She showed up on the camera that was in the woods at 4:30, but didn't show up on the camera that was aimed at the trap until 6:40. It only took her about 10 minutes of investigating the trap, going to the back to try to paw the food out, and poking her head in the front before she finally decided to go in. Phew! She's now safe and sound! Oh, when she escaped, she was dragging a 10' leash. When she was trapped, she had only a partial leash attached -- it just touched the ground. So, as we figured, she chewed through it at some point.
I received a call from Animal Control this afternoon about a dog that was being seen along River Road in Fredericksburg. Apparently, there had been sightings of him for a few days. Laura and I were running around hanging signs and handing out fliers for tomorrow's fundraiser at Jersey Mike's (Terri was too, but she was with her toddler granddaughter, not us), and could not get there until later in the afternoon. I met Deputy Sutton at the location at about 4:00 and we set the trap at about 4:30. And don't you know we saw the dog! Running down River Rd, causing problems with traffic. Ugh! I talked with several people who were there (at the boat launch parking lot) and everyone had been seeing him for days, but he ran from everyone. I waited for about an hour, and the next thing I know, he's at the trap! It only took about 1-1 1/2 minutes before he went in and was trapped! He was scared at first, but it took me only about a minute to get to the trap, and he wagged his tail. Hopefully his owners will reclaim him. If not, he'll be put up for adoption. He's a cutie patootie! We're calling him "River".
Update: It gets even better!! The fosters were so heartbroken when Elvis was gone that they decided that they can't live without himself, and have become Foster Failures!!! (For those of you who don't get it, it means that they are adopting him!!)
We got Elvis!! He got loose 2 weeks ago when his foster dad slipped on the ice and fell, dropping Elvis's leash. There were few sightings, and then on Sunday the fosters received a picture of Elvis on someone's trail camera. Laura and I headed out with a camera and food, and Elvis showed up a few hours later. So we went back out with a 72" box trap. After saying "nope" to going in the box trap (apparently, he had been trapped before by Animal Control), we decided to set the Missy the next morning. He had not shown up that morning, which we had thought that he would, so we hoped he hadn't moved on. But our experience told us that since he found a good meal, he'd be back. Thanks to Terri for saving the day! We had trapped a Swiss Mountain dog a couple of weeks ago, and when we took the Missy trap down, we apparently left the magnet for the door behind in the woods! Laura called Terri in a panic and asked if she could go look, and if she found it (which she did!) could she bring it out to Locust Grove? We're very thankful that Terri is off of work on Mondays!!!! So, at 3:47, we had the trap set, food set, and area sprayed with liquid smoke. The fosters hung around at the far end of the road while Laura and I made a trip to Witches Brew coffee cafe. She had 1 sip of her coffee (I hadn't gotten a sip yet) when Elvis showed up. So, we packed up and headed back over to wait. That was at 4:15. Again, Elvis said "nope" and he went to where the box trap had been and cleaned up every morsel of food he could find. We all headed home around 5:30. Elvis came back at 7:02, searching the former trap area, and went to the Missy at 7:38, but, again, said "nope". He arrived again at the old trap location at 9:55, but didn'
He showed up just before 3:00 a.m. But, after circling and circling... and circling the trap, he never went in. The food will be refreshed shortly, and if he hasn't gone in within a few hours we'll set the Missy.
We FINALLY got him! Animal Control contacted us about this dog back on November 29. Their first call about him was November 18. Every time they responded and saw the dog, he ran. So, they called us for help. We put out a camera and feeding station, and he showed up that night. So, a box trap was added. Nope, he was having nothing to do with it. Then, our new 72" box trap arrived,, so we tried it. Again, nope. So, we tried the Missy. Well, he was a bit better, but he'd never put his back paws over the threshold of the door. *sigh*. We removed the door, but we still got the same result. On day 42, Terri, who was the primary feeder for this case, suggested that we try a stuffed toy. So, we left one outside of the trap (in case he was afraid of it). Well, don't you know that when he showed up that night, he grabbed the toy and ran away with it! Eureka! We may have found the solution!!So, the next night, a toy was put in the middle of the trap. He went in and got it! We also found that he was much more interested in eating the dog biscuits that Terri left on top of the food, than the food itself. We also had at least 3 foxes coming to eat every night, and a few raccoons. Terri made her peanut butter/sweet cereal/marshmallow concoction for them, which she put away from the trap, but they still came. We had a couple of horrible rains, but the dog was still coming for his toy and dog biscuits. We moved the toy to the back of the trap, and he came in confidence -- tail was up in the air! So, we added the door to the trap on day 48. Well, he came at 8:30 that night, but noticed something was different, and left. Oh, no! But, he came back a couple of hours later, and went all of the way in for the toy and treats! So, last night, Laura and I decided it was time to trap. We set the trap, complete with toy and dog biscuits in the back, plenty of dog food in the middle for the foxes and raccoons. At midnight, he finally came and went right in the tra
