In October of 2021, Halstead and Newton residents began noticing a familiar face running alongside Hwy 50 and laying in ditches. A concerned citizen posted to a local Facebook page for lost pets to see if anyone was missing a medium sized black dog. Comments poured in regarding similar sightings and what the community should do to help the dog.
Despite efforts, the stray dog proved skittish and difficult to bring to safety. Caring Hands’ own Cynthia Sutcliffe set out to do something to help. Her first step was to set a large live trap with plenty of appealing food. After a few days of having no luck with the trap alone she decided to set up a trail camera to track the dogs activity.
A Tragic Discovery
After setting up the trail camera, Cynthia could see her trap wasn’t working, and instead, was contributing to a very fat and happy raccoon. Cynthia, with help from the community and other rescuers, was able to recognize the dog had been surviving off an old deer carcass it had dug into a nearby ditch. The team was saddened by the state the dog had been forced to live in. They moved their trap closer to its regular food supply. Finally successful – they had captured the stray.
Success at last!
Cynthia was finally able to take the dog, who she discovered to be an 8 month old female, to Caring Hands for a bath and a good meal. Thanks to the compassion and diligence of the community, a stray in the country now has a chance to find a home where she will never have to search for food again.
The stray was named Joan Jett for her raspy voice. She is now a safe and happy resident of Caring Hands. She is available for adoption, waiting for her happily ever after.
