October 28th Marnie escaped her newly adopted family after only five days in East Fishkill, NY. It wasn’t until the end of November that Marnie’s story would come to light.
She was sighted up the mountain on someones Ring camera, as she was making her way towards Beacon, NY. A concerned Beacon resident, Stephanie Dignan took matters into her hands, making a flyer and posting it on social media and the NextDoor app. This would be the catalyst that would ultimately lead to Marnies rescue.
Sightings immediately started to pour in for this stray brindle dog, she was repeatedly sighted at the train station, in the tunnels, at various apartment complexes, woods and properties all over Beacon... who was she and where did she come from?
Bill Sykes was the first to respond to Stephanie's post. She was seen for weeks on his Nest camera eating cat food that he would leave out for several strays. He searched the internet and contacted local authorities to no avail, until he finally saw Stephanies post.
A couple of people reached out shedding light on who this dog was and the puzzle pieces finally came together. Her name was Marnie and she had been on the run since October 28th and she had travelled close to nine miles.
Stephanie's partner, Sophie Samul from Walden Humane Society met with my good friend, Becky Tgze, the director at Pets Alive who immediately contacted me and asked if I could help.
I took all the reported sightings and began mapping them. Her travel pattern was clear. I headed out to begin her capture on Monday, traps and cameras were set in multiple locations. Through the course of the night she made an appearance at each one but wanted nothing to do with the traps, she would take one look at them and run off.
At 5am I finally headed home to get a couple hours sleep and come back with an enclosure trap. I asked Bill Sykes to remove the cat food, I needed her hungry and food motivated. I knew her pattern and it was race to get set up before she would show. Within twenty minutes of setting up, my camera was going off. I watched as she took a look at the enclosure from a distance and then trotted off. She immediately headed to Bills but there was no food to be found.
During this time, I got in contact with her former foster family, Adrienne and Bobby Aull, who I asked to come to the area. Marnie had been with them for several months before being adopted and I felt that if she wasn’t going to go into the enclosure that we could use them and their dog, Scout to help lure her. Being in survival mode and having been on the run for so long, I wasn’t sure that this would even work but I wanted them in the area just in case. I met with them and had them positioned in an area that she tended to frequent late at night.
Thankfully, Marnie kept returning to the enclosure and each time getting closer and closer, this was huge progress.
As I was on the phone helping another lost pet owner, my camera went off again….she was in the enclosure and finally captured!!! I made the call to her foster family, that I got her and to come meet me.
Her forty eight days on the run were over and she was headed HOME with her foster family that never stopped loving her. I always say when things seem to be going wrong, it’s simply the universe rearranging things for the right outcome. Marnie slept in her foster moms arms all night and is finally where she was always meant to be.
Thank you to the amazing Beacon, NY community who collectively worked together to bring Marnie to safety. Stephanie Dignan, Sophie Samul, Bill Sykes, AnnMarie Popovic, Craig, the MTA and Beacon police and all who called in sightings. You were all integral in this happy ending.
Welcome HOME Marnie!
