Beautiful things happen when a community comes together for an animal in need.
For about two weeks barks and cries could be heard from the woods off the Maurice River in Millville, NJ. A tan dog could be seen but no one could get her.
A kind gentleman, Rick Schewnke who lives directly across the river, heard her and would take his boat over and leave food for her. When he would leave she would come out of hiding and eat.
A plea for help was posted on facebook. I replied to the post and from there her rescue was set in motion.
Where she was would be very difficult to get a trap to and even more difficult to get once she was captured. Getting to the trap in time, in the event any wildlife was captured would be impossible. Getting a dog in a trap off the steep river bank onto a boat at night was dicey. This was just not an option.
Looking at the map I saw there was a property off those woods along the river, she could get to this property at low tide.
The plan was to get her feeding station moved over there. I contacted Doug Harris of Harris storage, another animal lover who allowed us full access behind the gates to do whatever we needed to do. Her rescue was dependent upon the tide.
I needed to get there by low tide, so I left at 4am to make the three hour trip to Millville. She was a no show in the morning but the next low tide was at 8:23 PM and I knew she’d make an appearance, so I waited. At 6 pm I grilled up hot, fresh food for her and loaded up the trap, positioned cameras along the river bank and trailed food and scent. As the tide receded, my cameras started going off… she had arrived. She came off the river banks at 8:15 and made her way to my trap, by 8:19 she was safely captured. She was terrified at first but quickly settled and even gave kisses through the trap, you could tell she was relieved and grateful.
I made the call to Shari and Rick and they came right over to meet the elusive river dog. She was wearing a belt that was made into a collar, she is not microchipped. We will be getting her pulled and into a foster home once her stray hold is over.
Thank you to Rick, Shari, Kristen, Vicki, Linda, Doug and Todd Harris and all who cared about this frightened little girl and answered her cries for help. Thank you Courtney at SNARR for taking her into rescue and to The Bankos family for fostering her.
If you see something, say something, be their voice!