[Dailydrool] Lost Basset in Freeport, IL?

[J Marchlewski]

LAINEY is HOME!!!

Here's the email from her mom Robin:

 Yes, it's true, Laney HAS BEEN FOUND!!!  Sorry, we had to get her taken
care of and settled in before emailing the details of her rescue.  There
has been a valiant effort from our friends, Guardian Angel Basset
Rescuesupporters, and our community to save this scared, abused Basset
of ours!
This is a Christmas story and miracle for the ages:

 We received a call at 1:45 AM, December 4th from the Freeport Police
Department asking us if we were missing a Basset. We said we didn't think
so, but that we would look. As Mark got out of bed to look, I asked the
lady to read his or hers tags. It said Ethylbea, our 16 year old. Well Mark
came back with a look of terror on his face, we weren't missing 1 Basset,
but rather 3!! Our back gate was wide open and Boomer, 14, Ethylbea, 16,
and Laney, 8, were missing. (We think a visitor of ours did not latch it
right and with the high winds here, it blew open after midnight as neither
one of us were out any gate that day.)

 Mark ran down to the Freeport Police Department to get Ethylbea, who
turned out to be Boomer, our 14 year old foster who has cancer. (They
thought he was Ethylbea, simply because their collars were accidently
switched after being groomed.) Boomer had made it 8 blocks, over a 4 lane
highway to a Citgo Road Ranger, where he promptly ran up to a couple who
were pumping gas, jumped in their car, and off to the Freeport Police
Department they went. Our neighbor, Grandma Doris to the dogs, and I found
Ethylbea 3 doors down sniffing in the rain. Laney was still missing after 2
hours of searching in the dark and rain. We left messages at the Freeport
Police Department, Paws and Claws, along with other vet offices, Friends
Forever, and Carlson Canine Camp.

 We had called the search party off until dawn.  She has overcome such
horrible abuse, chain saw torture and teeth ground down to the gums etc.,
and yet after nearly 2 years, I still can't pet her!! Laney will allow Mark
to walk her, but general hand pets are not thrilling moments for her, but
she adores being with other dogs! So she wouldn't have run up to anyone at
all, so we needed to get eyes on her first!! Laney WOULD play with other
dogs tethered outside, but mainly in the dark as it's her MO here as humans
can't watch her and it gives her cover of darkness to play!! So Laney
wouldNOT run up to strangers, heck not even her parents, but w
ould be huddled anywhere she can fit under or hide behind.

We had so many people searching day in and day out all week with no real
sightings of her and fading hope.  On Wednesday, there was a short blurb in
the Journal Standard saying Laney was missing prompting a great deal of
interest and a nice sized article on Thursday announcing our search party.
Saturday, December 10th, day #6 of Laney being lost, was a search party at
9 AM that involved most everyone who had never met her in person.  The
amount of people trudging through areas most would not be caught dead in
was unbelievable, not to mention, freezing their bottoms off for a dog
simply known as Laney.  During a warming up and a regrouping at 10:30 AM, I
(Robin) had mentioned to 3 searchers that a couple had called the Freeport
Police Department on Thursday saying that they had seen her on a walking
trail 1.5 miles from our home on Wednesday, but had no idea at the time she
was missing.  Those 3 searchers decided to drive over by the walking path
between the Pecatonica River and Henderson Road.  They pulled up behind the
UPS and the 2 adults in the vehicle didn't see anything, but as they were
pulling out, Emma Shipper, 10, started yelling, "There she is, there she
is!"  Through the chest high brush, Emma saw a black and white Basset face
looking at her.  Laney began to run from all  3 searchers and wanting to
keep her in sight, they gave pursuit while calling Mark and I, only to lose
sight of her.

Laney was 1.5 miles from our home and from where the search party was
concentrated.  On our way to the vacant lot near the walking path, we were
calling all the searchers so they could descend on the area.  Searchers
were walking through rough, uneven terrain and dense brush in the bitter
cold to find Laney, only to find she had disappeared again.  After 4.5
hours of searching, many had to leave, while others had lunch, warmed up,
and renewed their efforts.  However by 5 PM, it was pitch black out, there
with no further sightings of Laney, but without 10 year old Emma, we
would've never found her as we were searching nowhere near where she was
spotted.  Everyone was covered in weeds, debris, and lots of burrs!!

Kristin Loue, Stephenson County Animal Control, has went WAY beyond her
call of duty in finding Laney.  She was the first to make flyers and begin
passing them out.  On Saturday evening, Kristin had potentially found where
Laney had been bedding down.  There was a huge wood pile that was over 6
foot high, trees that were cut down for the new walking path, with matted
down weeds in the shape of a Basset body with paw prints around it.  She
waited on a live trap and set it, while placing a blanket in the matted
area.  Laney, over the course of Sunday and Monday, tripped the trap 3
times, getting the food every time!!  Other searchers were out Saturday
evening, Sunday, and Monday leaving even more food and water.  Some
searchers were even out in the vacant lot numerous times between Saturday
evening and Monday afternoon, looking for the now famous black and white
Basset.

Searchers were passing flyers out on Sunday and Monday and we were getting
very viable leads from Henderson Road area.  This afternoon, Monday,
December 12th, Kristin, along with city animal control, snared Laney in a
group effort.  We had had such dedicated searchers, who were sitting in the
weeds in the cold, walking, driving, etc. the last 8 days.........it has
been utterly amazing!!  Kristin carried Laney in once Mark identified her,
followed by the 2 city Animal Control officers, all 3 of which are my
heroes!!  Laney looked none the worse for the wear, not 1 burr, and
looking/acting strong!!!  She had eaten like a queen the last 3 days as
everyone and their brother were feeding and watering her!

The outpouring of love and support has been so overwhelming and phenomenal!
Friends, neighbors, dog trainers, dog lovers, rescuers, high school kids,
and perfect strangers have offered search assistance, printed flyers,
forward emails, drove around searching, walked miles searching, and spread
the word looking for our Laney. now yours too. The number of people wanting
to help find her grew exponentially by the hour and it so warms our heart
because this girl was not loved for 6 years and now hundreds love her and
was behind her safe return.....so yes, I'm in tears!! We wish to thank:

Kristin Loue, whose dogged tenacity and never say die attitude brought
Laney home safe and sound!!  You are forever in our hearts!!
Emma Shippert for being sharp enough to see Laney in the weeds when others
overlooked and giving us our 1st confirmed sighting of her!
Doris Pittsley
Rebecca Peters
Tony Stepanski
Carol Boudreau
David Manarsik
Mercedes Shippert
Barb Weeks
Anna Krysiak
Cheryl Ross
Marie Wiersema
Jan Carlson
Lisa Kennedy
All the searchers, who showed up Saturday to save a Basset they never met,
but were willing to go out in the cold for!
All the well-wishers and supporters, who emailed, called, and prayed for
Laney's safe return!!  Your thoughts and prayers were answered and brought
our baby home!
All the callers and tipsters that kept us on her track and reported any
possible sightings of her!!  Mark and I wish to spend a special thanks to
the individuals who rescued Boomer at Citgo that raised the alarm, the
Freeport Police, and the couple who called twice to report seeing her on
the walking!
To everyone else, you were instrumental in getting the word out to save a
Basset, whom no one loved for 6 years and now has her own personal fan club
overflowing with love!

Laney is everyone's Christmas miracle and without an outpouring of love
from the entire community, it would have never happened...................

Thanks,
Robin S. Lohmeier


On Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 11:16 AM, Kirsten Jungert <kirs1068 at yahoo.com>wrote:

>  Hi... just checking to see if there was any update on the lost Basset in
> Freeport, IL?  Does anyone know how the search went for her on Sat.?
>
> Kirsten
>
>
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