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The long saga of Blue, a wayward purebred Sheltie who had been lost and living in the woods on her own for nearly three years, took a happy turn on May 3 when she was finally rescued. Blue’s rescue epitomizes how one persistent animal rescuer can make a difference, especially when the community steps up to help. Blue was born in a Pennsylvania “puppy mill,” a term for unscrupulous dog breeders who are known for overbreeding their animals in order to maximize profits. Puppy mills are the primary source of often unhealthy puppies for most pet stores in this country. Blue was a “brood bitch” and was kept confined in a cage for the first year and a half of her life to produce litter after litter of “product” for her owner. When she was abandoned by the breeder, a Sheltie rescue group in western Pennsylvania took her in. Because Blue had very little human contact, she went into foster care with a family experienced with undersocialized dogs. After several months and countless hours of training, Blue’s foster mom thought she was ready for adoption and an opportunity came in the form of a Newtown family who already owned a Sheltie and wanted a companion for her. When the Newtown family searched the Internet, they found Blue, then drove six hours to pick her up. Blue was in Newtown for only a couple of days when she accidentally got loose and went “on the run.” A search party was set up, and for the next few months, friends and family searched without success. Given our growing coyote population, when the calls reporting sightings of Blue stopped, all hope of finding the dog was lost. Fast forward to March 2, 2005, more than a year later. Karlyn Sturmer, an animal rescuer and volunteer for The Animal Center, was filling food and water dishes at a feral cat feeding station when she noticed canine tracks in the snow near the site. Wondering what kind of animal was coming into contact with the cats, Sturmer followed the tracks to a pile of pallets behind a local business. That’s when a very matted and very scared Sheltie jumped out of the pile and ran away. Blue had been found, at least for the moment. A feeding station designed to keep Blue in the area so that she could be captured was set up by Sturmer and Newtown Animal Control. However, the very smart and elusive Blue had no intention of making this rescue easy, and disappeared again. Why was it so hard to catch this dog? Some people told us that we were wasting our time; that Blue was better off on her own. So we sought the advice of Sheltie experts from around the country, who explained that Shelties are very bright, reserved and sensitive to sound due to their herding heritage. When disturbed by something, they will often bolt and, once on the run, can be very difficult to recover, even when approached by their own guardians. A dog like Blue, who is extremely timid due to the lack of early socialization and the abusive conditions of a puppy mill, they explained, is extremely adept at avoiding capture. But Blue, they said, would never be better off on her own. It took eight more months to pinpoint Blue’s new location. This time, Sturmer enlisted the help of the community by running Blue’s story in The Newtown Bee. Dozens of calls from individuals and local businesses reporting sighting of Blue poured in, which enabled Sturmer to zero in on the dog’s daily activity. A special humane trap recommended by Sheltie experts was purchased by The Animal Center thanks to the generous support of three families in the community. Then at dawn on May 3, the unbelievable happened. The Sheltie who had eluded rescue attempts for nearly three years had finally set off the trap left out for her. Now that we had Blue, we wondered how she would react to people. Would she be tame and handleable after all this time? As we approach Blue in the trap, what we saw was anything but wildness. Before us stood a frightened, exhausted little Sheltie with big blue eyes that seemed to say “It’s about time...I’m tired of running.” Blue is currently in foster care with her rescuer, Karlyn Sturmer, where the two are taking a much needed rest from being on the run. At last report, Blue was transitioning to “family life” very well; she loves to be held and hugged, and greets Sturmer every morning with a wagging tail. While Blue is still shy meeting new people, she shows no signs of aggressive behavior whatsoever. All of us at The Animal Center would like to thank the many caring families and individuals in Newtown who responded to help find Blue. Your calls were crucial in the rescue effort.
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