Professional K-9 Services for Law Enforcement and Lost Pets

On April 22, 2008, my son, Brian, took off in his semi truck with our 5 year old boxer, Jade. My son pulled off of I-80 at mile marker 348 just about 10 miles west of Cheyenne to let Jade do her business. In the process of getting her out of the truck and into her harness, Jade was spooked by some loud noise and took off running at top speed. My son was frantically searching the immediate area for Jade but knew he couldn’t search too long because he had a load of cows in his trailer. After 3 hours, Brian contacted the Laramie Animal Control office and gave them a description of our missing Jade. Our family was distraught thinking about Jade being out in the Wyoming wilderness without food, water or shelter.

A week went by with no word from Laramie Animal Control even though my sons called every other day asking if there was any word. During one of the calls, the officer gave my son the name of a very respected animal tracker named Cathy and her fabulous dog Zoe who could track missing animals. I had never heard of such a service, but at this point, I was desperate to find Jade before something tragic happened to her. We set up a time to meet so I could give Jade’s collar to Cathy and Zoe for tracking purposes. The exact day we were going to meet, my son got a call from Laramie Animal Control saying Jade had been spotted at some houses around mile marker 348, the exact location where she disappeared. I was so excited as I drove to Cheyenne because I thought the officer had Jade in custody and our nightmare would finally be over. To my surprise, when I reached the area she was spotted, the officer told me Jade took off again and couldn’t be located. My heart sank in disbelief. Cathy met me at the “red” barn where Jade was last spotted so Zoe could get a good tracking scent and off Zoe went tracking Jade around the Wyoming prairie.

Throughout the next week, there were several Jade sightings in the same area but she seemed to allude capture because she is very shy around strangers. Cathy would investigate each sighting and propose a plan of attack. She put up posters, spoke with local neighbors to alert them about Jade, set out dog traps and walked miles and miles with Zoe tracking Jade’s scent. Throughout this ordeal, Cathy kept me informed by telephone about what our next move should be because I live in the Denver area and couldn’t be in Cheyenne everyday.

Finally, on May 7th, Cathy called me and said Jade had been spotted at the truck rest area twice that day and she thought it would be wise if I came up and spent the night at the rest area because Jade seemed to be looking for my son’s truck. During the drive to Cheyenne, I had a feeling that we were going to find her that night. When I arrived at the truck rest area around 9:00 pm, Cathy and Zoe had already been tracking Jade in the darkness for 2 hours. Cathy’s husband, Curt, said Zoe took off following a very strong scent so I was confident that we would find her. Cathy, Curt and I were standing by my truck talking strategy, when I spotted Jade on the other side of the barbed wire fence several yards away. I was able to get Jade to come over to the fence so she could see it was me and not a stranger. When I took hold of her leg, Cathy hopped the fence gate and slowly walked over to Jade, talking very softly to gain Jade’s confidence. Cathy was able to slip a leash on Jade and end our two weeks of nightmares. Cathy cleverly thought ahead as to what Jade would need when we found her, and she pulled out some turkey sandwiches, which Jade gobbled up immediately. Jade looked much thinner and she had porcupine quills in her nose and two front legs, but regardless, she looked wonderful to me.

Cathy and Curt are dog lovers, caring people and they always made me feel like they loved Jade as much as I did. I am convinced that I would not have Jade back with me today if it had not been for the dedicated efforts of Cathy and Zoe. I would highly recommend them to anybody who finds themselves in that horrible situation of losing a pet. Jade got the porcupine quills removed and she’s doing fine back at home with her wiener dog friends, Heidi and Rex. Thank you Cathy and Zoe for finding our Jade and may God be with you on your future investigations.

Love,

Debbie Warnier and Jade

"I believe Jade followed Zoe's scent and the smell of turkey that was in my pocket back to our starting point."

Below is a comment from a wonderful neighbor who became involved in the search for Jade.

"Thanks to the determination of the "Pet Detectives". After the dog was in her mom' car, I saw something special between Cathy and Zoe. Cathy picked her dog (Zoe) up to see Jade, and then those big brown eyes looked at Cathy as if to say, "We did good,we are a team." There was not a dry eye there. I am glad I had a chance to meet them, and see them work. When the vest goes on, Zoe knows it is time to work. They don't give up. I am glad there is someone out there, to help find lot pets."

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