Folks might recall the saga of an abandoned dog named Shaggy, who for six months has eluded capture in Grand Rapids, Michigan, despite being seen almost daily in neighborhoods and walking alongside residents out walking their dogs.
We can now report that Shaggy, a large Newfoundland believed to be about 2 years old, appears to be on the verge of being collared in a nearby suburb.
Shaggy, who has outwitted animal-control experts armed with a net gun, and has only become more skittish when tranquilized, has begun to hang out at a house where yet another attempted capture will occur as early as Friday.
Shaggy remains elusive, but has been feeding from a dish just inside a family’s garage; photo by Haley Stubbart
The dog whose plight has generated headlines around the world, for the past several days has been eating from a dog dish placed just inside the garage of a home owned by the Stubbart family.
He sleeps in a cardboard-and-tarp doghouse beneath a tall pine tree in the yard, which along with his bear-like coat helps him stay warm in sub-freezing temperatures, and by day he enjoys playing with the family’s two airedales.
Shaggy even has a favorite toy.
Shaggy has endured despite sub-freezing temperatures; photo via Facebook
“It’s just this green cylinder toy that makes a noise when he squeezes it,” Haley Stubbart, daughter of Kim and Jim Stubbart, said in a phone interview. “He’ll chase it and pick it up, but he won’t bring it back.”
But despite Shaggy having finally attained some kind of structure, after having spent night after night in ravines and roaming neighborhoods across the frozen Thornapple River, he remains ultra-cautious in close proximity to people, and so far has not allowed anyone to pet him.
Shaggy will be put up for adoption after rehab; photo via Facebook
And nobody has tried, according to Melissa Borden, who owns a rehab facility for feral dogs and is coordinating the effort to catch Shaggy. She explained that any sudden moves by the Stubbards or their friends might result in Shaggy running away, and not returning.
The plan so far has been to keep feeding Shaggy, moving his dish a little farther inside the garage each day, allowing him to get comfortable inside the confined space.
Then on capture day, the garage door will be closed, and the smaller side door to the garage will be left open. Shaggy’s food will be placed inside the smaller door, and since he’s familiar with the garage, the hope is that he’ll enter the side door once he is hungry enough.
Once that happens, the door will be pulled closed with a string, and Shaggy, believed to have been a puppy-mill dog, will be driven to The Devoted Barn outside Detroit.
Borden said the first capture attempt could be Thursday night or Friday, or on the weekend. “We’re not in a huge rush, and we know with that coat that he’s not going to freeze to death,” she said. “So we want to make sure the timing is right.”
Assuming Shaggy is captured by this method, and that’s assuming a lot given Shaggy’s wily elusiveness so far, he’ll be kept at the rehab facility until he’s deemed ready to be put up for adoption.
The Stubbarts, it seems, would be ideal candidates.
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