Dog Rescued in Council is being Rehabilitated for Adoption
Thanks to Ladies and the Trap, two women who live in the Treasure Valley and are committed to reuniting lost pets with their owners, a Border Collie mix, who was abandoned close to the Council Recycle Center in August, has been trapped and taken to McPaws in McCall, where she will be vaccinated, spayed and available for adoption after she starts to trust humans again.
Ashley Colglazier, McPaws Manager, said the dog has been on her own for so long that it’s going to take some time to rehabilitate her. She said she sits in the kennel with her every day and reads to Willow, and that on Tuesday, Willow took a treat for the first time.
Kind residents in Council, who referred to the dog as the “recycle dog,” because that is where she mostly hung out, put food out for Willow these last few months, but with winter closing in, it would have been difficult for her to survive without a shelter and a home.
Jamie Lough and Nicole Jenkins both have day jobs, but both will answer the call if an animal needs to be trapped and rescued. The community where they live is supportive of their efforts, and in this case, the Council woman who called for their assistance paid for their gas.
“If a dog truly needs our help, we will try to help them,” Lough said. The women primarily do this for lost dogs in the Treasure Valley, but when they got the call from the woman in Council, who had been helping to feed the abandoned Border Collie, they came.
They had planned to sleep in their truck, if necessary, but once they started cooking, and the dog got the scent of potential food, she walked into the trap as soon as the women left the area.
The pair utilize whatever shelter is closest, and in this case, it happened to be McPaws, which is a no kill shelter, so the dog will eventually find a home.
If there is no shelter available, the pair have plans in place for someone to foster the dog until they are able to get the dog to a shelter or find a home for the animal.
Lough and Jenkins have been doing this work since 2019. They have on occasion gone out of state to help trap someone’s lost pet. And animal lovers that they are, they each have their own pack of dogs.
The pair said that dog owners are often amazed that their lost pet won’t come to their call or whistle. They said that when a dog is frightened, it goes into survival mode and its brain works differently; all it can think of is getting away.
The women said that they use luring, tracking, and trapping to get pets safely back to their owners.
Their website gives pet owners a check list on what to do if their pet is lost. There is also a place where people can donate to their cause. Ladiesandthetrap.com/support
