"Ellie", Bassett Hound, Near Chicago, IL - Found!

This story was told to me by Ellie's person through a national Lost Pet Yahoo group. It is a great example of how not to give up when looking for your pet. 

(Ellie's person's comment about trying to find her)

This is Ellie's story.

Just two hours before I was to pick her up at the vet clinic, Eleanor, my foster basset,  had backed out from her slip lead.   I called my rescue friends who were instrumental in helping me capture my own shy beagle two months before who had also escaped from another vet clinic.  We first contacted Find Toto.com.  Volunteers from Basset Buddies and BREW Midwest converged on the clinic.  We mapped out areas to search and post flyers.  She was being sighted that day but would not come up to any of us.   One volunteer was designated to post sightings so we could establish a routine for her during this time.  We also had volunteers who manned posts at night at different sections of the town to continue to sight her.  After a week, we moved her feeding station and trap to an area that she had been frequenting.  It took us  29 days and she finally took the trap.  We had team out from Boston on hold who was going to fly in to use a drop net because she was not taking the trap.  Every night we had someone who stayed in their car to watch the trap.  We hooked up a soft flood light to shine on the trap so we could see her.  Afterwards the county newspaper wrote an article about on the community came together to help us find Ellie.  We had a person who took his plane out to search for her.  Everyone knew about Ellie.  It was unbelievable.  As I tell other people who are looking for their dogs, the more people who know about your lost dog by using Find Toto, posting flyers, placing posters on neon colored boards at intersections, going to the McDonalds drive thru-handling out flyer at lunch/dinner time, the more chances for sightings.

On a side note - the first flyer I handed out to a teenager when my beagle went missing from the other vet clinic, was our first sighting for my beagle that afternoon.  We were able to encircle him with a group of volunteers and another beagle.  My beagle then went up to the other beagle and laid down.

Don't give up!  Don't be afraid to ask for help!!!