“RIVER PUP” GETS A NEW LEASE ON LIFE A few weeks ago, someone called us about a little white dog that was at a swimming hole about 7 miles outside of Covelo. They stated that she had been there for at least 5 days and was so frightened that no one could catch her. This is a remote area, with no houses in the vicinity. We (Cynthia and Barb) hustled out right away to see if we could find her and catch her but no luck. So, went back again just before dark; still no luck. The next day, we set up a live trap. Checked it at end of day but empty. Left trap unset overnight, not wanting to trap any wild animals. Before leaving we ‘dusted’ the dirt road with a tree branch to make it easier to see if the next morning we would see dog tracks. We were in luck! In the morning, we found many tracks and were so glad to find that the little dog was still hanging around. Spent some time poking around to see if we could find her and then a gentleman drove up, and told us he had just seen a little white dog farther up the road. We immediately drove to the spot he described and caught sight of her running to the river. We wanted to set the trap again right then but so many yellow jackets coming after the bait that we thought best not to do it; we sure didn’t want her to get stung if she were to be trapped. So, we returned after dark to set it. We covered it with a dark sheet, and left, hoping against hope we would find her in there the next morning. Neither of us could sleep that night thinking of all the possible scenarios: would we catch a skunk or a raccoon instead of this dog? would she be afraid of it and take off again? would she go in? We knew she had been out there, all alone, without food, for at least 8 days, we were so anxious to capture her asap and get her to safety and good care. Early the next morning, Cynthia found her in the trap! She was safe at last! What a relief! Poor little thing was was exhausted. We gave her a much-needed bath and it took a long time to get all the burs out of her coat. Now bathed, fed and comfortable, she slept peacefully for a long time. We’re calling her ‘River’. She is a beautiful, sweet little 9 lb. precious pup who seems to be about 8-12 months old. She will be ready for adoption soon!
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 01:05:02 +0000