A stray dog that's evaded officials for at least five months, who's been described as a "ninja," and who was allegedly shot in the face, has finally been rescued.
Late last week, Denver Animal Protection issued a notice that a white dog, probably an Australian Shepherd, had been seen in Athmar Park. They'd been after it since April, lead officer Jenna Humphreys told us, and they got word last Thursday that it had been injured.
"We got a call through 911 dispatch that one of the neighbors over here in the Athmar Park neighborhood had heard what sounded like a gunshot and a dog whimpering," she said on Saturday. "Now, it's our concern of, how long can he survive with this injury? Can he still eat? Is he still able to get the nutrients he needs off the streets? It's crucial more than ever, because an injured dog is way more likely to bite somebody, hurt somebody or die on its own, and we certainly don't want that to happen."
The dog actually was in custody earlier this year, but escaped, she said. Reported sightings came in from all over south Denver, from Yale Avenue to Harvard Gulch.
"This dog is very smart. He's fast," she added. "We do know that he's able to jump really high fences."
Denver Animal Protection's message to residents this weekend was not to chase the dog, but maybe try to trap him in a garage if he ended up in someone's yard. Neighbors were rapt with the story when it hit local Facebook groups. We were knocking doors nearby for another story on Saturday, and met people who'd heard all about it.
Enter a couple of "good Samaritans."
Sarah Luv-Garcia is a longtime pet advocate in the city. She usually works with feral cats, catching them for veterinary care, then re-releasing them — there's a whole community of people who do this in Denver.
When officials sent out word about the dog last week, she started getting messages from strangers who knew about her expertise. She called a friend, Karlee Arguello, and got to work.
They started by canvassing the neighborhood.
"We ended up connecting with a neighbor right at the corner of Nevada and Raritan. The dog frequented her front yard and backyard," Luv-Garcia said. "She could never really grab them."
So she and Arguello set up a base of operations nearby, and got permission to build a "yard-sized trap" behind the woman's house. They used 20 panels of grating to make an enclosure in the yard, based on designs for capturing especially skittish dogs.
"It was quite a massive trap," she said. "It was just like he was walking into the backyard."
Then, they baited their contraption with rotisserie chicken, squeeze cheese and wet cat food, and set up cameras in the yard that they monitored from a vehicle parked on the street.
"We created a smorgasbord for him," Luv-Garcia said.
They needed something elaborate, she said, since they knew the dog could "scale a six- and an eight-foot fence like a ninja cat." For a while, they were calling him MacGyver.
The poor boy couldn't eat, but he could smell.
They saw him a few times that evening, and hoped he'd be drawn in by their succulent offerings. Around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, the clever canine finally appeared.
They sprung the trap, then took their time to approach the dog. As they did, they could see that his mouth had been pierced by something.
"He did appear to have what looked like a gunshot wound," Luv-Garcia said. "I am not an expert by any means, but it was a perfectly round hole."
Meeting the dog, and seeing the injury up close, hit her hard.
"I cried. It's very emotional, when you do something to help an animal that's just been let down by another human," she told us, choking up. "I saw how sweet he was. He was such a gentle dog that absolutely didn't deserve that, and now he’s really safe."
Once they'd secured him, Luv-Garcia and Arguello called Denver Animal Protection, who took the dog to the city's shelter.
We've asked the city if they'll investigate the alleged shooting; we'll update this story when we hear more.
Update: Dr. Patricia Crystal, Denver Animal Shelter's veterinarian, told us Sunday afternoon that she "removed two metal pieces" from the dog's mouth, found some broken teeth and found a 2 centimeter hole in his cheek. He's receiving treatment, but she said he "was bright and alert" this morning.
