Shilo's Story

From: Philadelphia/Phoenixville/Allentown PA

Lost: May 12, 2013

Trapped: October 27, 2015

This is the story about SHILOH, the Chow Mix “stray” we trapped last  night, October 27, 2015. It’s a long story, because it’s been a long  time. We have just learned SHILOH has been missing for 2.5 years. We  have been feeding her and setting up this day since late January. Yes. 9  months.

Let’s back up. Many of you will recognize SHILOH because  people have been posting her wandering for 2+ years near the old Mack  Trucks plant off of Lehigh St. in Allentown. At the time we were assured  that SHILOH had a home, and was let to wander, but went home every  night. After all, SHILOH had a collar and tags. We were told repeatedly,  that the police know about her and several attempts to catch her failed  by police, the humane society, and more. Fast forward to January, when  we made some changes to our organization, SHILOH was spotted again and a  plea was put out on FB for help and to our new page. We could not sit  by and not look into this dog further. After interviewing dozens of  neighbors, the police, the ACO, we learned that this dog was indeed a  “stray”. No one knew who or where she belonged to. That’s when we  decided we had to do something. WE turn our back on NO DOG!

We  met many business owners and families who knew about and saw SHILOH  regularly. They were all awesome in allowing us to camp out on their  properties, set traps, feeding stations, cameras. And we did. SHILOH  wanted nothing to do with traps. She’s a big girl. But she loved her  meals. Julie and Beth along with one of our volunteers, Kelly, were on  SHILOH’s case from the start. They faithfully cooked steak and bacon,  not once, but twice a day, and checked and downloaded the cameras daily.  Through, snow, rain, winds, night, day, they were always there. At one  point early on, we were able to lure SHILOH into a fenced in back yard,  but the second the gate closed she jumped the fence. We knew this would  take time, patience, and perseverance. Not knowing SHILOH’s story (one  person even said they thought she had been roaming for 6 years). So we  stuck with feeding, and hopefully building trust.

In April, we  constructed a large fenced in area to feed her in. It was eventually  destroyed by vandals but we rebuilt it. We captured over 2000 photos of  SHILOH eating, sleeping, and roaming. She “knew” Kelly, Julie and Beth,  but would not come close. SHILOH even crawled under the destructed  fencing to look for her meal that day. It was heartbreaking. It became  obvious that SHILOH would NOT go in the traps we had, so we had an extra  extra-large trap custom built. We finally picked this trap up last  week. The trap was put inside the enclosure for a few days, not set, to  see if SHILOH would go in. And she did.

We set the trap Sunday  night. Julie and Beth staked it out every night from 11pm until dawn.  Overnight, SHILOH went in. Julie and Beth slept outside with SHILOH  until she could be taken in and to the vet this morning. Besides some  matted hair, SHILOH was healthy (all that bacon and steaks) …. Then it  was time for the big SCAN. SHILOH was chipped! After phone calls back  and forth, here is the letter we received from SHILOH’s former foster  mom, who is now adopting her forever:

Hello! I just heard that  your wonderful rescue group has been working with Shiloh and  successfully trapped her last night, and I wanted to reach out to you  right away. I am Shiloh's foster mom. I located her in the shelter in  South Carolina in March 2013 via Facebook (see attached shelter  picture), and couldn't stop thinking about her so I worked with New Life  Animal Rescue to pull her from the shelter immediately. She was a feral  dog and very scared, but something about her caught my heart. During  her quarantine for transport, she turned up as heartworm positive but  that didn't dissuade us. She also gave birth to a litter, all of which  were small and passed away. We didn't give up on her, and she made the  trip to me in Philadelphia. My husband and I have loved her since the  moment she arrived. We fostered her for over 2 months, slowly  socializing her and adapting her to life in a home. In May, though it  broke our hearts, we found a wonderful home for her and approved them  for adoption. My husband and I have 2 chow mixes of our own and knew  that keeping her would mean we would have to stop fostering, so adoption  was the right choice. I brought her for the home visit and adoption on  May 11. Julie and Winston loved her immediately and were ready to take  it slow with her, knowing she was a scared dog. Unfortunately on May 12,  they hadn't seen Shiloh urinate in a long time and decided to take her  on a walk in their neighborhood, since they knew she had urinated while  on a walk before. When they turned on a flashlight, Shiloh panicked and  managed to get out of her harness. The next morning was my worst  nightmare. I got the call from Julie that Shiloh was lost and  immediately grabbed slip leashes and all her favorite treats and my dog  (Shiloh's friend) and made the 45 minute drive to look for her. We made  signs and put them up everywhere. The police in all local towns were  contacted. We went door to door. We searched through the woods. Even a  gaze in her direction was enough to send Shiloh running. We set multiple  traps in places she was sighted and manned them night after night after  night. We tracked her moments from town to town. For months. My life  was on hold. Eventually as the summer drew to a close, the sightings  slowed down and the locals were less excited to help in the search. I  wasn't able to make the drive every day anymore and had to get back to  my studies. We kept signs posted and current. We continued to network  her and respond to any tip we got. We were constantly in touch with  people in the area. By late fall, the sightings of her had stopped all  together. We knew she was a successful hunter and clearly very good at  keeping herself safe and hidden, so we prayed that she remained well and  would return to us. I have always held out hope that my beautiful  little foxy girl would be found one day. I have had multiple  conversations with Kim Mangione (director of New Life Animal Rescue)  that my home is ALWAYS open to Shiloh should she ever be found. And that  she would have a home forever if that were the case. So, that is Shiloh  and my story. I am shaking and crying and truly in a state of shock  knowing she is safe today and with you. Please let me know what we need  to do for her to come home to me. I am still living in Philadelphia with  the two dogs that she was fostered with, so though it make take her  time to remember we are all here for her. She may take as much time as  she needs. I have also now graduated from veterinary school and will do  everything to get her back to the best of health and comfort. I have  attached many photos from her days with us - from the first day in the  crate "nursing" stuffed squirrels while she still had maternal instincts  to working alongside my own dogs for treats. Thank you so much for  everything you have done for her. I cannot begin to express my  gratitude. Please know that her story with all of you would not end here  - you all would be welcome in her life forever. Sincerely, Noelle F