Stray Pitti~Case 472

When our team arrived on site, we met with Kim, an officer with McKinney Animal Control, to brief on the case and review everything that had already been tried. While we were on scene gathering information and assessing the area, it was brought to our attention that a man driving a bright orange truck had been searching the neighborhood for several days for his missing pit bull that matched her description.

Within approximately two hours, our team was able to successfully locate the dog. Given the Arctic weather circumstances and the fact that she had been repeatedly chased by people in the area, leaving her extremely spooked, hyper-vigilant, and cautious of anything unfamiliar, we made the decision to deploy our corral trap in a 10’ x 10’ configuration and continue working through the night, when there are far fewer people out and she would be more likely to put her guard down and approach the corral.

While we were in the process of setting up the corral, we did observe a bright orange truck drive directly past our location. At that time, our trailer ramp door was down and conditions were extremely icy, making it unsafe to run out to the roadway to get his attention. Due to the darkness and the positioning of our setup, we are certain he had no way of knowing what we were doing.

After receiving unlimited access to the property from the homeowner, Raymond, who is a huge animal lover and was incredibly accommodating throughout the operation, we deployed our corral in a 10’ x 10’ configuration approximately 10 yards from where we located her. His cooperation and support were instrumental in making her capture possible. We trailed liquid smoke and small pieces of chicken from inside the corral back toward her location, then staged inside the truck roughly 25 yards away while we waited.

She did return and spent some time circling the corral, but she just wasn’t brave enough to go inside yet. 

Our team will be staying overnight so that when she does decide to go inside and when the cold and hunger push her to take that step, we will already be on site and ready to remotely trigger the door from inside the truck.

Team members Selena and Ginny were staged inside the warm truck when motion alerts began coming through from the corral. Once movement was detected, they immediately switched to the live camera feed positioned inside the corral. Although our truck was relatively close, it was dark outside and the corral was partially obscured by trees, leaving us without a clear line of sight. We relied heavily on the live feed inside the corral to determine the precise moment it was safe to close the door and capture her.

It was her. This time, she entered with clear purpose and intent, moving directly toward the food. Once she fully committed and reached the food bowl positioned all the way inside the corral, the door was remotely triggered from the truck and the dog was successfully captured.

Unfortunately, the camera did not record the exact moment the door closed, so we do not have video of that specific second to share.

We immediately called McKinney Animal Control so that they could be on their way to our scene. 

Almost immediately after the corral door was triggered, we approached the corral, as we were only a few yards away. With the temperatures being so low, we needed to work quickly to get her out of the elements.

She was standoffish on approach, but instead of retreating to a corner of the corral, she remained positioned near the front. She watched our movements closely and showed curiosity toward us, maintaining proximity rather than avoiding contact or attempting to distance herself.

It took approximately five minutes to safely encourage her away from the corral door so we could enter without risk of escape. We were then able to enter the corral without issue. 

Within just a couple of minutes and using a slow, careful approach, we gently placed a slip leash around her neck. She immediately became relaxed and submissive, confirming that she is very comfortable on leash and appears to be leash trained.

Once we got her inside the warm truck, we scanned her for a microchip and she absolutely had one. We immediately attempted to contact her owners but were unable to reach them at that time. We are hopeful they will contact us as soon as they wake up.

Her name is December 🥰

Kim with McKinney Animal Control arrived on scene quickly and without delay, and she was incredibly calm and gentle with December. One of our team members, Selena, walked December out to the animal control truck using a double slip leash. Once there, Kim placed a blanket over December and carefully picked her up, settling her into the warm truck.

Kim also recorded December’s microchip number that we scanned, which will be included in her intake paperwork.

Kim then transported December to Collin County Animal Services where she will begin her mandatory stray hold period and, hopefully, await her owners coming to pick her up.