There were 36 hours of searching for a missing dog. Next, it rang the bell at a local animal shelter.
It had been 36 hours since anybody had seen Bailey, the family dog. No one expected her to return to either her new owner or the animal shelter where she had spent the better part of a year.
On Facebook, the Animal Rescue League of El Paso appealed to the local community for assistance locating a lost dog called Bailey. There was a dramatic spike in sighting reports. As time went on, more and more individuals joined the quest. In an effort to find her, her owner spent all night walking all over town.
There was no point to any of it. Bailey was still at large, vulnerable to being run over, mauled by a wild animal, or succumbing to the unknowable horrors that lurked in the harsh West Texas desert. And then, late on the second night after her abduction, the staff at the animal rescue got a notification from their Ring video doorbell. As they opened the app, they saw Bailey, a late-night visit to the animal sanctuary, outside.
A 36-hour hunt for a dog that didn’t require rescuing was finally put to rest thanks to her appearance on the doorbell camera. Bailey had her destination in mind and had driven the roughly 10 kilometers to get there. However now she was confronted with a challenge she could not surmount. She needed someone to allow her in since she didn’t have a key and couldn’t use her thumbs.
Bailey has been with the El Paso Animal Rescue League for well over a year. After her time at the last shelter was over, they sent her to the rescue league hoping that the greater visibility there would increase her chances of being adopted.
Bailey was at the rescue league for about a year before anybody finally adopted him, despite the boost, since he had “some eccentricities that were not easy for people to overcome,” such as being energetic, untrained, and a bit of an “escape artist.” As Hyde put it, “She spent much of her life in a shelter,” and he went on to explain that Bailey attended obedience school when she was a resident of the rescue league.
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Hyde also said that once Bailey was adopted a few months ago, her eccentricities began to surface. The new owner returned Bailey after just three days because she had gotten out of her box and chewed up some of the owner’s artwork. Another owner took her in after about a month. The stray dog he had spent a year training was his second pet. He made sure Bailey and his other dog would get along before he adopted him, and now he brings both dogs with him to work every day so that he can practice, teach, and compete in martial arts.
Hyde reported that on January 29 at approximately noon, Bailey escaped as her new owner was attempting to fit her into a harness. Both on foot and in a vehicle, he tried to catch up to her, but she always managed to get away. After receiving his call, the shelter posted an urgent notice on its Facebook page that night, telling its over 33,000 followers that Bailey was on the loose and urging them to report any sightings.
In the following 36 hours, Hyde claimed, there were at least three opportunities, but none of them worked out. Bailey had already left each place when shelter personnel showed up there. On the night of January 31st, Yvonne Arratia, one of the shelter’s staff, was lying in bed and about to fall asleep when she received a piercing ring from her phone.
Someone had rung the Ring doorbell of the shelter, which explained the commotion. Nevertheless, it was 1:15 a.m. already. She reasoned that nobody could possibly be awake at this hour. Then there was a second bell. Someone is at your door,” the phone’s computerized voice announced at last.
She got up from her seat in annoyance and investigated. Around 3 a.m., she opened the Ring app and saw a photo of a person with two bright eyes. At some point, the whole animal was revealed. “A familiar face? Could it be Bailey? My God!”
A frantic Arratia hurried to her daughter’s bedroom. The refuge was also home to Geneieve, whose advice Arratia sought. For the purpose of communicating with the dog outside the building, they unmuted the doorbell’s microphone. “Bailey! Bailey! Do I recognize you?
There was an instant full-screen appearance of Bailey’s brown head, followed by whimpering and clawing at the door. In order to go to the shelter, Arratia and her daughter got in the vehicle and drove off. During the approximately 15 minutes it took to get there, Genevieve spoke to Bailey on the phone as Arratia drove.
Bailey was overjoyed when this finally occurred. Arratia harnessed her and let her into the hut. Bailey stomped back to the kennels where she had spent the better part of a year with all her might. She was given food and allowed to relax. After morning had progressed, the owner was informed that his dog had been discovered and was now at the shelter.
Upon his arrival, Hyde claims, she scolded him and warned him to use more caution. He consented to getting a collar equipped with a tracker and walking her while holding both leashes at once. She was fort crossing all these busy roadways, Hyde added. “She’s got a little of street smarts, too.”
Hyde was inspired to reflect on this by Bailey’s journey, which served as a reminder of the extraordinary nature of canines. On her way, she covered around 10 miles and went through El Paso’s main street. According to Hyde, that’s a big win for the shelter.
“She stayed at the shelter for soooo long this was home to her,” the shelter said on Facebook. Someone had tracked down Bailey. For the first time in her life, she felt safe there. After she was free, she immediately set her sights on getting home to her loved ones.
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