Scarlett Alice is safe and found after two and a half terrifying days on the run through Inwood Hill Park in New York City!! She was last seen on Sunday morning after being spooked and bolted with her leash still attached.
I consulted with the family yesterday at 5PM and she was safely captured within six hours. I reviewed the case and felt that the best approach would be to instruct Scarlett Alices' mom, Steva to go calmly sit in the park with food and one of their other dog's Babka, when it got dark and would be most quiet. Sure enough, within ten minutes Steva heard rustling and then Scarlett Alice appeared in the silhouette of the moonlight. It took time for Scarlett to approach on her terms and within 40 minutes, she was nose to nose with Babka and soon after safe in her moms loving arms! Patience and a new understanding of lost dog behavior was critical in her capture. Great job Steva and Welcome Home Scarlett Alice!
Here is Scarlett Alices's story as told by her...
"Here are the details, or most of them.
We had enormous help from many, many folks and organizations, but it was the advice of Nicole at Buddha Dog Rescue and Recovery that brought Scarlett back. Nicole consulted with Steva for an hour Tuesday afternoon, and on her advice we distributed new flyers (provided by Buddha) urging people not to chase Scarlett if they spotted her. Then as the sun set last night Steva and Babka set up a feeding station near where she was last seen (in the only virgin forest in Manhattan) and sat nearby very quietly. The idea was to let Scarlett approach on her own terms, on the grounds that any other approach (chasing her, calling her name, etc.) would heighten Scarlett's fear. As Nicole hoped, Scarlett appeared ten minutes after Steva sat down, then walked away. Steva sat tight. Scarlett reappeared a second and third time over the next forty minutes, and then finally approached Steva and Babka so that Steva was able to hold Scarlett's leash. Then (as Nicole predicted) Scarlett was her normal dog self, happy to be with her folks and seemingly oblivious to the ruckus in which she figured. We showed her her flyers on the walk home.
We're pretty sure that Scarlett spent her time away hunkered down in one of dozens of caves in Inwood Hill Park, too scared to respond to our calls. She was not dehydrated, so we suspect she was getting water from a natural spring near where we found her (a natural spring used by indigenous folks for centuries, and at one point by George Washington). Nicole had told Steva that by the third day lost dogs are often hungry or thirsty enough to make an appearance, and sure enough that's what happened. Scarlett looks (and smells!) no different than if she'd just had a longish fun walk in the woods."
