Collie Rescued After Months Roaming Countryside

OnFocus – A collie is safe and warm just in time for Christmas, thanks largely to the efforts of one dog-loving volunteer.

Megan Jasurda, Lost and Found Coordinator for Marshfield Area Pet Shelter, first learned about a Collie roaming a nearby township in August 2020 when it was spotted on someone’s trail camera.

Jasurda worked with property owners to set up more cameras in the neighborhood. The dog soon appeared on one camera regularly, so Jasurda then set up a live trap – with no luck. She then set up a 10×6′ kennel and attempted to lure the dog with a buffet of different food options – again with no luck.

“I could tell she was a very sweet domestic dog stuck in survival mode to survive day to day,” said Jasurda. “She just needed a humane live trap & time to decompress to help her snap back to simply being a domestic dog again.”

On November 6, the dog was no longer appearing on the trail camera. After not hearing anything for nearly a month, MAPS posted with a request for any sightings. A week later, someone in a different township saw the post and contacted MAPS.

Jasurda then set up a camera and located the dog’s “safe spot” (where a stray dog will habitually visit because they feel safe there). The collie had settled on a nice farm and gone to work protecting & tending to the resident herd of cows.

After four failed attempts to capture the collie in the hay shed where she presumably slept, Jasurda set up a large 20x20x15′ kennel nearby. Then followed many days of feeding and gradually moving food bowls into the enclosure before finally the months of hard work paid off!

On the afternoon of December 23, the collie entered the set trap as Jasurda anxiously watched in suspense from a distance. She was finally captured and safely transferred to MAPS to enjoy a warm bed, good food, and lots of love.

“After trying for so many months, it felt pretty incredible that it worked & that all the hard work paid off to getting her to safety,” said Jasurda.

Jasurda encourages everyone to spay/neuter their pets and microchip them.

“Placing a collar, ID tags, microchipping your pet & keeping contact information up to date with the microchip company is important to help get them back home if they happen to go missing,” she said.

If you’d like to help sponsor Megan’s rescue efforts, email her HERE. Please note that this collie will not be available for adoption for a little while, as she will need time to decompress. Watch the MAPS Facebook page for information on how to adopt, but applications are not being accepted just yet.

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