BARC 2019 Summary

We have been busy since the BARC Update of November 3rd.
On November 7, we got a call about a mom dog with 6 puppies that were left in Halchitta. The family who was feeding them were able to catch all of them and transport them to K and C. We met them there, took them to Dusty Paws for immunizations, and then to our one dog yard at Hoyt’s. “Blue Eyes”, the mom, proved to be an escape artist, digging out of the dog yard but remaining at Hoyt’s to be close to her puppies.We put her back in the dog yard every time we fed (3X/day), realizing that we had to dig a one foot deep ditch, filing it with chicken wire and rocks. Then she just climbed out but remained close to her puppies.
On November 13, we got a call from sand island about a box with 4 two week old puppies but no mom. A name on the box led to the discovery of the mom dog who was reunited with her puppies at Dusty Paws. With no place to put them , we “borrowed the fencing from Dusty Paws, installed it at Hoyt’s, and placed the mom with her 4 puppies in the new dog yard inside a small cage with a heating pad and blankets.
On November 16, another mom dog with 6 puppies was dropped off at Dusty Paws, fostered overnight and transferred to Underdog Rescue in Moab.
On November 17, the mom with 6 puppies were transported to Moab as well. The mom with 4 puppies were fostered at Hoyt’s until November 16 when they were transferred to Moab as well. I failed to mention the mother cat with 6 kittens that were dropped off at Dusty Paws on November 8. They were immunized and fostered until November 16 when they were transported to Denver.
On December 4, we got a call to pick up a mom dog with 5 puppies at white Rock.These filled our second dog yard, so Greg Burns drove to Cortez and bought more fencing that we used to build a third dog yard.
On December 13, a Friday, we got a call from the Aneth Court about a mom with two day old puppies under a shed. Paul Martini and I went out with a carrier cage, a noose and food but we could not catch her. Staff from the court came out to watch the show which only served to make the mom more wary. We got close several times but no cigars. After three hours, we gave up.
Over the weekend we realized that a cold front was expected Monday night and we feared that the puppies would die if we could not catch the mom and dig out the puppies. So Paul and I returned early Monday morning with a live trap and some tuna fish which we set up upwind from the shed and the babies. Sitting in the truck, out of sight, we waited. We saw her several times walking out from under the shed and returning. When we peeked, we noticed her sniffing the live trap but not going in.
“What should we do ?” Said Paul. ”Let’s go to the convenience store, buy some coffee and nibbles”,I said. Then we returned and she was still wandering around. We sat in the truck, drinking coffee out of sight of the live trap. We had already been there two hours. “We have given this a good shot,” I said. “Let’s give it 15 more minutes and call it if we can’t catch her by then”. Fifteen minutes later, we slowly peeked around the shed. “She’s in the trap!,” I yelled. “I’ll get the shovel” said Paul. We then dug out the puppies and placed them in warm blankets in the warm truck. We then hefted the live trap with the mom into the truck, wrapping it with a sleeping bag and tarp and drove back to Bluff, where we had set up an igloo dog house with a heating pad inside the third dog yard. We put the puppies in the igloo and released the mom from the live trap.She immediately went inside the igloo and commenced nursing. As of January 6, we have only seen her poop outside the igloo, but she cleans up her food bowl at every feeding and the puppies are growing. She is a great mom dog.
On December 24, a 6 moth old scruffy dog was found along the road in Bluff by Dylon Helgerson. Having moved the mom with 5 puppies into the dog yard vacated by the mom with 6 puppies, we had room in the small dog yard for Scruffy. On December 29, Ed Dobson was able to transport the mom with 5 puppies to Moab.
On December 30, I got a call from. Bluff about a starving cold “puppy “ that was seen at the Aneth store the day before. I had a carrier cage with me, so I drove to Aneth, bought a can of dog food and was able to lure her in the cage. When I returned to Bluff, Adrienne, who had been volunteering at Design Build Bluff, was waiting to transport this dog to Moab.
So…as 2019 comes to a close, BARC has rescued 27 female cats, 19 male cats, and 12 kittens. We have also rescued 9 male dogs, 17 female dogs, and 33 puppies.
As I write this, we are already busy in 2020. On January 3rd, I received nine 5 week old puppies from Monument Valley. We need to build that 4th dog yard!