Tuesday morning, August 6: I had parked on the shoulder of the Silverton Rd. in Llewellyn to walk one of my dogs in the little park next to the road. Just after I’d put my dog back in the vehicle, another dog came running along the dirt path that runs through the park.
And this dog wasn’t just running – it was full-tilt running, as if terrified. As it neared my vehicle, I called out to it, and the sound of my voice made it hit the afterburners.
I walked another dog, but couldn’t stop wondering about the dog I’d seen, a brindle boxer. I drove to the Branch Township building to see if there had been any reports of a lost dog. There hadn’t been any.
I called a neighbor, Bonnie Beech.
She said that information about the missing dog had been posted on Facebook. I was able to find the post and texted the owner, Kim Foss. We agreed to meet along Silverton Rd., so I could show her where I’d seen the dog. Both Kim and her father Marty met me there – I was shocked to learn the dog, Jazzy (Jasmine), had been missing since July 24.
The Saga Begins
Kim was at work when Jazzy escaped their yard, along Mill Road in Branchdale. The gate hadn’t been locked, and Jazzy got out July 24.
“A neighbor saw her and tried to catch her, but she ran away heading up the mountain,” Kim said. “My husband (Charles Smith) looked, with no luck, and we later got together a search party.”
Initially, they felt optimistic. Jazzy would hear them calling and come back. But anxious hours turned into days and soon, a week had passed.
“My brother was searching for her using his quad, and there were people checking trail cameras,” Kim said. “She’d been seen on the trail cameras, either running or resting, and we’d search and call at whatever area she’d been most recently seen.”
“Neighbors along Church Rd. saw her for about another week, and we’d be getting calls,” Kim said. “She was seen at Kemfort’s Cottage (an Airbnb) and in areas near Church Road.”
Early during the search, Kim had posted information about Jazzy on Facebook.
“People were responding and it spread like wildfire,” she said. “Right away, there were more than 100 shares.”
“A couple people suggested that we use a trap (a walk-in trap), and a neighbor let us use a trap he had,” she added. “We bought trail cameras, but it seemed like every time we moved the trap, she would be seen in a different spot.”
People associated with the Muddy Creek Sportsman’s Club allowed the family full access to their posted land so that they could look for Jazzy and move the trap and trail cameras.
Jazzy was still being spotted by neighbors and pictures of her were captured on trail cameras.
“But then she disappeared for three days,” Kim said. “It was the first time that we’d gone that long without any sightings.”
The family began to fear the worst. Then on August 12, she was spotted at the baseball field in Branchdale.
“We were out that night in that area looking for her until about 11:30 and finally I said, ‘Let’s go to bed’,” Kim said.
“Then at 2:30 am, I woke up to noise, and was thinking, what is that barking?” she said. “It was loud, but I thought, that’s Jazzy. She has a distinctive bark.”
Kim ran to the front door, opened it, and Jazzy ran into the house.
“She had porcupine quills sticking out of her lower jaw,” she said. “Fortunately, the way boxer’s mouths are shaped, the quills were mostly in her lower jaw and not inside her mouth.”
The family was able to ease about 30 small quills out, but there were about a half dozen that were deeply embedded.
“She was whining while we did that, but it wasn’t like she was whining in pain,” Kim said. “It was like all her fear had gone away, and her little nub of a tail was wagging. She was whining with happiness.”
Jazzy got a trip to Mountain Shadow Veterinary Hospital to have those quills removed and was sent home with antibiotics and pain killers. She’d lost nearly 30 pounds.
“We owe a debt of gratitude to the general public, to everybody on Church Road, to all the people who opened their farms and land to us to let us look for Jazzy,” Kim said. “We are so happy and grateful to have her back, we would like to say Thank You to everyone for caring.”
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