Search for Rusty

Rusty escaped at 7:04 PM on Wednesday, 1/19, near 288th and 19th Ave S. in Federal Way. His owner is elderly and disabled, living alone except for Rusty. Many neighbor kids tried to catch him, but he ran across busy 288th and may have been hit by a car. Kelsy followed his scent trail yesterday, 1/21, and we confirmed that he was sighted at 18th and 296th on Thursday morning, so, if he was hit by a car, he survived and was still mobile the next day. Kelsy followed the scent trail to 304th and Pacific Highway, near Steel Lake. Rusty is 14 years old, apparently deaf, with poor eyesight, and a thyroid condition. His face is whiter than in this picture. 

Today, Rusty was found in someone's yard, trapped between a fence and a stone wall.  They were able to read some of the numbers on his worn tag, and eventually they tracked down Marie, his owner.  She is very happy to have him home.  

That's the basic story, the important parts.  Below is a full narrative of Kelsy's search.  I don't know if any of it is important, but I might learn from it later.  

Now for Federal Way, WA (98003)

Temp: 49F
Feels like: 45F
Cloudy
Humidity: 91%
Wind: SSW at 10 mph
Updated: 1/21/11 4:05 PM PST

Marie did not call MPP directly.  Someone called on her behalf and asked us to help her, since she couldn't help herself.  I ended up finding her address on the internet and going and knocking on her door to offer our help.  I told her it was unlikely that Kelsy could help, since she didn't have a clean scent article, but that we would give it a try.  I took a picture of her picture of Rusty, and for a scent article she handed me a clump of Rusty's hair from his bed, which the cat also slept on from time to time.  I started Kelsy on 288th, at the point last seen.  I aimed her at a fence, so she would have to immediately choose right or left, instead of just charging ahead in the direction I had pointed her.   We started on the north side of the street, and she wanted to cross to the south side, a block west of Marie's house.  Kelsy was distracted by a little boy waving around a peice of bread on a paper plate.  Once the light changed and we crossed the street, Kelsy led me to a vacant lot.  She was very interested in an area of flattened grass, and what looked to be bloody diarrhea.  Her body language indicated she was just about to do a shoulder roll on it, and I stopped her.  We continued south on 18th, going through yards. 
Behind an apartment complex, the landscaping had compacted soil and bones and spoiled food.  It looked like many animals spent the night there, not just Rusty.  At 18th and 296th, a woman asked us if we were search and rescue, and I replied yes, that we were looking for a dog.  She thought we might be looking for a boy missing from a nearby school.  It turned out that she had seen Rusty.  I showed her the picture on my phone, and she was positive it was him.  Rusty had wandered up and down 296th, and had settled in her yard before she shooed him away.  I didn't ask why she didn't check his tags and help him get home. 
I was very proud of Kelsy at that point.  Of course, I am always proud of her, but I love to get confirmation that she is following the right trail, and not leading me on a ghost trail or the wrong trail. 

We continued south on 18th to Pacific Highway.  She wanted to follow the trail right into busy traffic, and I pulled her up and told her to wait.  She looked at me then, I would give a million dollars to know what was on her mind at that point.  I wonder if the trail went both ways, across Pac Highway and also south.  Rusty was eventually found on the west side of Pac Highway.  Kelsy ended up choosing south.  If Rusty had gone south and then back north and accross the highway, then the double trail leading south and back would have the strongest scent, possibly seeming fresher to the nose of a dog.  The trail south lead us through a construction site where they were laying a new road bed.  The surface was made of shards of broken glass.  I tried to keep Kelsy off of it, but it didn't bother her at all.  I checked her pads, and they are unscratched.  After the construction site, she led me to a feral cat feeding station behind a business on 304th. 

We crossed 304th and went around several small businesses, where there was a strong aroma of good food.  She led me back to 304th, then east, to a fenced wooded property where transients had torn down the No Trespassing sign and established a well-worn path.  We followed the trail to a homeless camp of several tents and much garbage.  A homeless man drinking a 40 ounce can of beer was very friendly and helpful, but he hadn't seen Rusty.  He said he would call us if he did.  We followed the trail into the woods until all the trails stopped.  We found a dead raccoon.  Interestingly, I caught the smell of decomposition at the same instant that I saw Kelsy's head turn in that direction.  With her superior nose, I would have guessed she would smell it first, but I guess the wind shifted, bringing the smell to both of us at once.  I didn't think it could be Rusty, since he hadn't been gone that long, and when Kelsy pinpointed the body, it was obviously a raccoon.  On the way out, after we hit the dead end, Kelsy also took us to another encampment, which appeared to be an abandoned meth lab.  Kelsy became skittish at that point, and we got out quickly.  I don't know what was making her nervous, and I didn't want to know. 

At that point, I was thinking that Rusty had gone further south, through the brush.  I was not thinking of the possibility, the probability, that a 14 year old dog would have been discouraged by the heavy brush and rough terrain, and likely would have come back.  At that point, I switched Kelsy off her harness and onto her collar, signaling that she was off-duty.  I had somewhere to be, and we just made it back to the truck as fast as we could.  The trail we followed was 1.75 miles long.