On a recent Friday afternoon, a concerned citizen called IDA’s Hope Animal Sanctuary (HAS) to report an abandoned or lost Great Dane at the entrance ramp to Interstate 55 at Vaiden, Mississippi, not far from the sanctuary. Late that Friday, HAS Operations Director Sharon Stone and volunteer Charles Joseph went to check, and sure enough, there he was- right where the caller had said. Charles opened a can of food, and that great dog inhaled it, so they opened another, which he also ate very quickly. After he was finished with the food, unfortunately he was also finished with them and moved off into some nearby trees.

Saturday morning, they returned, but this time the dog was not in the same location, but after a few minutes he appeared. They again offered food, but he was not interested and instead turned and headed to a nearby convenience store, the Triple Stop. They followed closely, but after about 45 minutes realized that chasing him would only get him hurt.

North Mississippi Great Dane Rescue sent two representatives later that Saturday night to try their luck. They brought their female Dane with them and this boy really liked her, but not enough to get close enough to be caught. As of that Sunday afternoon, Charles and Sharon had returned with the two people from North Mississippi Great Dane Rescue along with their female Dane, but still had no luck. He was just too afraid to come that close to people.

It was decided that the only safe way to catch him was to give him some food with a tranquilizer from a veterinarian, and then when he was drowsy, a lead would be slipped on him. With an army of volunteers and HAS staff, they set out to put their plan into action. What they did not know was that everyone at the Triple Stop was feeding him! He was so full that he would not even look at anything anyone had to offer and therefore there was no way to tranquilize him. So another plan was created to try to lure him with a female dog in heat. A quick post on Facebook seeking an in-heat female dog and voila!

A local woman, Karen, answered the call and brought her dog, Lucy. Karen took Lucy out of the car and led her over to our Dane and it was love at first sight! Karen led them to a grassy area and when the Dane was comfortable, Karen wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sweet bear hug, which gave them enough time to get a lead on him.

Everyone was elated (and frankly a little bit stunned.) Lucy was such a trooper and seemed to understand that she was helping. She led him to the HAS van and stood there with him, keeping him calm, until staff could load him. From start to finish once Lucy got there, it was all over in about 15 minutes!

Sometimes, it takes a village, and certainly was it true in this case. Many thanks to everyone who advocated for this wonderful boy and all those who shared HAS’s posts about him. Thanks also go to the owners of the Triple Stop and their employees for watching over him, and of course thanks to all the HAS staff and volunteers Charles Joseph, Mike and Rebecca Touchstone and Laura Gregg. Most of all, thanks to Lucy and her entire family for being willing to take time out of their day to be sure this boy was safe.