February 28th I recieved frantic call from my dear friend Randie from Rescue Dogs Rock NYC. One of their rescues just escaped off transport after the foster failed to secure him properly with a slip lead. He bolted from the Marriot Hotel parking lot in Rye, NY and within minutes had run miles! I jumped in my car and drove out and met Randie, we spent hours hanging posters. A snow storm was coming and time was of the essence!!
Sightings started coming in but he was being chased relentlessly and on the move, showing no signs of slowing down. The storm came and went, derailing us as the strong hurricane force winds had ripped down ALL of our posters. Frustrated but with tunnel vision we headed back out and hung them back up. We started getting sighting miles away! We spent the next three days blanketing, Rye and Harrison, NY staying two steps ahead of him at all times. As people ripped down our posters we replaced them each time with 20 more staples!!! Blizzard #2 was on it's way and we said a hail Mary that our posters would stay up and that he would be safe.
Roberto is not your average lost dog, he is a feral street dog from Texas who is smarter than your average bear but I'm sure he was not ready for the brutal blizzard he was about to experience. Thankfully, Rye only got a few inches of snow in comparison to the 32" that I had to dig out of to get back to Rye the next morning. To our relief, sightings started coming in and apparently Roberto was on someones property having the time of his life, rolling around making snow angels and of course in an entirely different location miles from the last. Tracking his sightings, his loop was becoming crystal clear but bigger and bigger.
Roberto had been trapped back in Texas so conditioning him to go in a trap again was crucial. After tracking and nailing down his travel pattern a trap was placed in a location where we believed he would use as a cut through. The trap was tied open and we went home and held our breath. I had just gotten home only to have my camera go off and to my relief it wasn't the raccoons again, it was a hungry Roberto!! He cautiously sniffed around but eventually made his way in to the trap for food. I jumped back in the car and drove the 40 mins back to set the trap. I watched for hours as he ran the streets like he owned the town and then just like that, he was gone again. A call came in the next day, he was clear across town...AGAIN, but this was all part of his circle and we knew he'd be back when he got hungry. Last night as I went to rebait the trap for the final time, a cardinal flew right infront me and I knew right then Roberto's time on the run was coming to an end. Randie called me and said he was just sighted, he was making his way back to my trap. I knew his route turn by turn and could have timed his arrival. On queue, my camera started going off and within minutes he was captured. I made the call to Randie...WE GOT HIM!!!
I always know that when I get a call from Randie, it will always be an adventure...thankfully this time no broken noses, only a banged up manicure. Thank you to the town of Rye, NY, Rye Country Day School and all who were on the lookout for this displaced Texas boy, thank you for showing him a warm New York welcome!!
Roberto from Buddha Dog Rescue & Recovery on Vimeo.
