Last night, a team of volunteers that were all perfect strangers performed nothing short of a miracle. A routine transport running from DarlingtonCountyhs Rescue in Darlington, South Carolina to Long Trail Canine Rescue in Wilder, Vermont stopped in Fairfield, CT at the commuter lot on the Merritt Parkway. While trying to transfer a very timid dog from one car to another, Alfredo got loose and was on the loose! A plea was quickly sent to the Bridgeport Animal Control support page, a post was made and they received over 300 shares and nearly 11,000 views! Connections were made in lightning speed and almost immediately a Good Samaritan, Courtney Benitez, posted a picture of Alfredo who had made his way to Lake Mohegan - a dog friendly park (what a smart boy to go there!) on a local dog group page. Susan Doumas Kaster went to post the alert on this community site, saw the lost dog posting with photograph, and put out the SOS that got the ball rolling...volunteers went out immediately to help catch Alfredo, but the sun set quickly and our boy had vanished into the woods. A core group of volunteers, who had all just met, stayed in hopes of locating Alfredo. He now had a fan club! Two very determined and brave women, Hilary Fox and Nicole Asher, who had never met before, stayed throughout the night, in the darkness of the woods, where glowing eyes were seen around each corner - was it Alfredo, was it a coyote, a mountain lion, or both? Either way, the determination grew stronger and so did everyones love for Alfredo, renamed Mo by the women in honor of the 170-acre Lake Mohegan Park, it just seemed to fit. Just a few examples of just how many people were rooting for Mo: Allison Berlingo, a local teacher and Bridgeport, CT city animal shelter volunteer drove to and from Milford, CT three times, once with her three-year old son and dog, once alone to head into the woods to Hilary and Nicole with some warm chicken and bacon to use as bait, and a third time the next morning to pick up the empty trap. Another volunteer, Penny Zwert, was on the Long Island Ferry and Facebooked in that she had a Have-a-Heart trap she could lend us. She got off the ferry, drove home to West Haven, grabbed her nephew to help and then drove to Fairfield after midnight to deliver it to us in the parking lot. In the pitch darkness, aided by head lamps, Nicole and Hilary carried the 80 lb 7-foot cage up the steep dirt and rock trail, across wood plank walkways, up the mountain and set it. Two women from New Jersey involved in the transport, Carol Anne Kunzig and Mary Ellen Shaw ran out to get rotisserie chickens to lure Mo in and monitored the trailhead well into the night in case he ran out of the park. Katie Edwards, one of the sweetest transport coordinators around, stayed up all night in South Carolina keeping tabs on Mo, Hilary, and Nicole, doing everything from keeping the hundreds of people worried about Mo on FB in the loop to answering frantic calls asking for statistics about coyotes attacking humans. Phone calls were made to Fairfield PD and Fairfield Animal Control. Allison got a personal phone call from the ACO Monday morning while driving to work. Finally, this morning after a 14+ hour rescue mission, the sun rose at Lake Mohegan and out came our volunteers, Nicole and Hilary who had been in the woods from dusk until dawn. Through the help of friendly dog walkers at the park this morning, they were able to lure Alfredo in using other dogs, got him leashed up and SAFE! To all those that called, cross-posted, prayed, shared, and helped in any way THANK YOU just doesnt say it. We ALL rescued a dog last night, and now hes been dubbed Mo, short for Mohegan. As a result of his dark, scary night he has racked up quite the vet bill. Recently neutered, his stitches are broken and he now has a huge gash in man part area. The gash was loaded with debris and already an infection had set in. He also sustained a puncture/bite wound next to his penis which will need to be swabbed and cleaned several times a day and monitored to make sure that his urine is exiting where it should be! No fun!!!! He is now on antibiotics and pain meds and he has 2 cultures which have been sent out for analysis. His bills are growing and he has another follow up visit to the vet on Wednesday morning. At that time, the vet may decide he needs new stitches to put him back together. PLEASE help Mo by donating to his fund. Thank you in advance for giving and caring and letting Mo know that we love him and will care for him until hes 100%! To give and to help our boy, please go to helpdarlingtonpets ~Susan B
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 03:39:35 +0000