All is Not Lost

Desperate and despairing pet parents turn to Alfie’s Rescue when their dog goes missing.

By: Megin Potter

Photos Provided

Jen Atchinson is on a mission to locate lost dogs. After joining in the community-wide search for Alfie, a miniature Australian shepherd who went missing from Glens Falls two years ago, she got to know the dog’s owners, who were visiting from Pennsylvania, and, when Alfie was finally found, experience the joy of a family reunited. 

Since then, Jen, a retired State of New York employee, and Stacy Berry, co-founders of Alfie’s Rescue, have located 40 missing dogs. 

“I go out as necessary. Sometimes there are no lost dogs in the area, but sometimes, I’m kept pretty busy,” said Jen, who, while searching for a missing dog named Scooby, drove the more than two and a half hours to Malone, near the Canadian border, to help find him. “If I know a dog is in danger or has been lost for a long time, I am willing to travel,” she said. 

Lost and Alone

Alfie’s Rescue does everything they can to recover a lost dog. While sometimes dogs are found within hours, it has also taken Jen more than 45 days to locate a missing dog.  Rising at 6 am, and out searching all day (with only brief breaks) until well after dark, she is doing what local agencies and rescue organizations don’t have the time and resources to do, and what pet parents often can’t. 

When they can’t find their beloved dog and are left on their own, the dog’s family sometimes exacerbates the situation. Franticly yelling the dog’s name, or moving toward a skittish dog, often scares him, causing him to run. 

“If the owner is out there, screaming, the dog is going to automatically think, ‘I’m in trouble’,” said Jen. “That’s why it’s extremely important to kneel down on the ground and talk to a lost dog like you would to a child,” she said.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Stray dogs are nomadic animals, moving to find the human food sources they rely on and the small animals that eat it, so, in addition to a perimeter search for prints, Jen looks for signs, like a garbage bag that has been ripped into, indicating that a dog may have recently visited an area. 

When Loki, a boxer from Broad Albin, ran away from home, his Mom and Dad were heartbroken, said Jen. After trying to help the distraught parents over the phone, there was an agonizing month of no sightings. That’s when Jen and Jill, a tracker from Bethlehem, scoured aerial maps, and picked up his trail. After five days with no luck, the team finally caught sight of him.

“He was the most emaciated dog I’ve ever seen,” said Jen. Although boxers have a strong jaw and powerful bite, their flat, square muzzle makes it difficult for them to pick up scents and find food. 

“When we went out to look, Jill and I almost walked right over him. He was extremely thin, exhausted, and sound asleep. I thought, this poor dog is going to die right in front of us, but then he picked up his head and ran away. I felt awful,” she said. 

When Patience Pairs with Cunning 

Next, Jen and Jill sprayed food with liquid smoke and grilled bacon in the middle of the woods to try to lure him in. 

“Dogs’ noses are 40 times more sensitive than ours, so we rely on that to be the guiding light to bring them to the food bowl,” she said. After strategically placing food and a trap (out of the reach of neighborhood cats and other wildlife) Jen and Jill set up their cellular-enabled trail cameras and went to a nearby restaurant to wait. 

The atmosphere was tense and quiet. 

Finally, Loki emerged, attracted to the food in the trap, and they knew this was it, he’d soon be going home. “It was incredible!” said Jen. 

Rescue from a Crazy World

Dogs go missing for a variety of different reasons, but a stray dog wandering the streets on his own can be more than just a nuisance. Without a pack helping them to hunt, on their own, lost dogs won’t last long. Traffic has increased tremendously since the days when dogs were left to run free. Today, we expect dog owners to be responsible for their pets. Stray dogs can contract a contagious disease, like mange (which is common in foxes), or develop aggressive behavior and bite a child. 

When a dog is dumped, Jen works with local sheriff’s offices and animal control to get the abandoned animal to a shelter and rehomed. The increasing value of certain dog breeds has led to them being stolen (even right off a front porch!) Dogs are also taken to be used as bait animals for dog fighting, which is still a huge problem in Albany, said Jen. 

Posting a reward for your missing dog can also be problematic because if someone is holding the dog and sees a reward offered, they may be incentivized to keep the dog longer (waiting to return the animal until the reward is raised). 

“You just don’t know. It’s a crazy world out there, nowadays. In a matter of minutes, your dog can be lost, taken, or something worse,” said Jen. 

Where a little goes a long way…

The community is very good at posting on social media, said Jen, but when a pet goes missing, it can cost Alfie’s Rescue more than $1,000 per dog in food, gas, and travel expenses to recover them.  

All of these services are provided to pet owners for FREE, leaving Alfie’s Rescue to pay for all of their expenses out-of-pocket The subscription to the handful of trail cameras they use is $200/month. They’d like to upgrade to a thermal imaging drone to help aid in the search and become a certified non-profit organization.

Alfie’s Rescue has started a Go Fund Me page. They have raised $718 toward their goal of $10,000. To donate, go to  https://www.gofundme.com/f/alfies-rescue

To find out more, follow Alfie’s Rescue on Facebook and go to https://alfiesrescue.com