Jakes’ story began for us when his owner became ill and was unable to take care of him any longer. He tried to find Jake a home but was unable to and Jake ended up at PAWS in Lynnwood.
Jake was on his way to his foster home when he ran from rescue transfer meeting at Comfort Suites Inn, Wenatchee. He ran through the busy intersection and up the highway onramp towards Sunnyslope. Hours of frantic searching ensued; reports made, postings made & flyers hung everywhere to get the word out.
Mary Emmons of Leavenworth responded to our Craigslist posting asking if she could help. Mary’s message said “Have you found your dog or any sightings reported? I work at an office over by the Confluence Park behind the hotel and would like to help if I can! Mary”. Mary joined Jake’s Team within 15 hours of his becoming lost and she was with him every day through his capture.
For the next ten days we had a few misleads including looking on the railroad tracks near Rocky Reach Dam and in Entiat! Mary and other volunteers continued searching, hanging flyers, responding to possible sightings.
September 29 9:30 am we received our first really good lead of Jake near Moonlight Motor Lodge and in the next 48 hours several more sighting came in.
October 1st a FB message came in from Chris Shannon of Wenatchee. Chris said “IT’S HIM, IT’S HIM!!!! Jake ran down the hillside to Lower Sunnyslope Road / Chatham Hill area. He is still wearing the red collar with the green leash attached. He does not respond to his name – he just runs”!
From that day forward Chris and Mary worked together as a team tracking, watching, feeding and trying to capture Sir Jake.
DEN #1 The Highway
Mary and Chris followed him and located his first den 40 feet from Highway 2/97 under a sage bush. A road kill deer carcass was found and had been Jake’s nourishment during this time. A trap was set but it scared Jake and he left that den sight and ran across the highway and was almost hit.
DEN #2 Vacant Field off Melody Lane
After another weekend tracking Jake and den #2 was found October 17th.
Feeding & water station set up along with a large dog trap from Wenatchee Valley Humane Society. From Jake’s daily journals “10/21/2015 tonight’s dinner warm bacon, roast beef & kibble”.
We received a lot of advice and suggestions along the way including that we should place tripe in the trap “it’s the only thing that works”. Sticky, smelly tripe (sorry those who like tripe). Nothing like 100 degree days and fresh tripe.
Another piece of advice was to have clothing from Jake’s owner. This was not going to be possible so we tracked down his house and scoured the empty home’s back yard for some of Jakes belongings. On this trip we found dog beds, blankets and chew bones but before we could returned with Jakes personal belongings he was gone.
There were so many other people who were trying to help but the increased number of people coming too close to his den area had scared him and he was off and running again.
DEN #3 The Canyon
Chris and Mary spent another weekend tracking Jake to the canyon by School Street.
Chris and Mary accessed the canyon by walking through the then dry irrigation canal tunnel that runs under the highway. This location was kept top secret.
Jakes bedding & bones from original home were placed as well as two traps and game cameras. The original trap, the new larger trap, cameras and twice a day feedings were all done by Chris and Mary walking through the dark canal tunnel under the highway.
The last week of October the ladies sat huddled in the canal tunnel listening for the sound of the trap door. On the first night after sitting for 5 hours the ladies finally heard what they had been praying for, SNAP!! They ran to the trap and found a much freaked out cat!
The game cameras provided lots of great information; what time he eats, what he likes and what scared him. It also showed us that Jake was not going to enter either trap. We needed some other way. So many ideas were discussed and discarded, one involved the high school football team….?
New plan, we need someone to operate a humane snare. We found a lady who specialized in this type of rescue and arranged for her to come to Wenatchee from the coast. The ladies set up the feeding/trapping area according to her specifications and begin feeding.
On November 13 the trapper set up her gear and she and the ladies took their places in the canal listening for the sounds trap trigger. Watching on the trapper’s video camera they saw he was there and in an instant he was gone. The trap had triggered but malfunctioned in some way, and again, he was gone.
Now we are really scared because the weather has taken a turn to winter, with freezing nights and feedings in the dark and we don’t know where he is.
DEN #4 The Orchard
November 15th Lee from the orchard called and requested the ladies come look at Jake’s new den.
From Jake’s daily journals “11/15/2015 tonight’s dinner steak strips stir-fry style in coconut oil & kibble”.
Jake has 2 video cameras and 2 still cameras pointed at him and ladies are trying to reestablish a feeding station. Rib bones “heated slightly, he doesn’t like cold” were offered to him. And the realization that we are going to have to do this ourselves!!!
With our new humane snare purchased, tested and with Jake now eating from the feeding station it was time. It had started snowing and was very cold but the wonderful couple Don & Barbara offered upstairs window to watch from.
November 24th – attempt Snare – cat!!
November 27th – attempt Snare – cat!!
November 28th – attempt Snare – SUCCESS!!
This is a success story because of the determination of two wonderful ladies, Mary Emmons & Chris Shannon. Their love, care and daily feedings kept Jake going until we caught up to the very smart 11 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Jake and his 73 day adventure.
People that helped:
Loren Sebastian of Wenatchee “I have endurance & I will out walk Jake, following him until he drops” “look for buzzards overhead, they like to eat eyeballs of the dead”.
Cyndi Smiley-Castle of Wenatchee
Tarina Ferrel of Leavenworth
Darla Daniels of Wenatchee
Wenatchee Valley Humane Society
Jan Short of Cashmere
Vivian Dahlin of Ocean Shores
Mike Shannon Wenatchee
Chesapeake Bay Retriever Relief & Rescue (CBRR&R)
