NOTE: Since this is a blog, chapters will appear in reverse order. This is part 6.
The one photo is of Nalle, Eva Hafstrom's dog, who from her perch in the second story at the back of the residence would bark whenever Gigi or the fox made an appearance. The other is night camera photo of Gigi (she is there, if you look hard).
The final piece of the puzzle was Dr. Lee Monsein. In one of those strokes of luck which pepper this tale, Larry Miller, who had spotted Gigi on Friday night at 44th and Van Ness, is good friends with Dr. Monsein, whose fenced yard gives onto the grounds of the Swedish residence. Larry gave me Lee's contact information. Lee and I spoke soon thereafter. Lee is passionate about dogs, and he clearly adores Rave, his gorgeous 4-year old female boxer. He is also a hi-tech enthusiast. This combination would prove essential our efforts to get Gigi back. Lee immediately agreed to help. He redirected a webcam he used to keep an eye on Rave when he wasn't home at the humane trap that Sam and I had set up--allowing us to watch the trap without having to drive to 44th and Van Ness every hour.
Over the next several days, Eva at one end of the property and Lee at the other were able to establish Gigi's schedule. In the morning hours from 5:00 to 7:30 AM, she was frequently visible to Eva and her dog Nalle nearer the residence, though Eva did observe her in the evenings too. Lee reliably saw her from around 10PM to 3AM, although he also saw her in the mornings. In a real sense, Gigi was no longer "lost". We knew just where she was. We decided not to report everything we knew on this blog, out of respect for the fact that all this was happening on Swedish territory and because if we were to catch Gigi, who is so easily frightened, we needed peace and calm.
On two occasions, Jim rushed to the location of the humane trap after getting reports that its door was shut. The first time as around 11PM. Flashlight in hand, he excitedly looked inside. It was a fat orange tabby, who rushed out the moment he opened the door. Jim was disappointed, to say the least. Two days later, in the pre-dawn hours, Jim rushed there again. This time it was fat raccoon, who had devoured all the fried chicken and looked very content to be there and in no hurry to leave. Jim had a devil of a time getting him/her out of the cage.
In the meantime, both Lee and Eva reported seeing Gigi being followed by the mangy fox who lives on the grounds. He was also eating food that Eva left out for Gigi. Both Sam the tracker and our vet assured us that the fox was no threat to a dog. Lee also observed deer on the grounds, too. So though Gigi was in a car-free oasis, critters were practically running into each other.
As Lee, Sam the pet tracker I considered our options (and Lee was a full-fledged member of the Gigi team), Lee decided to use his dog run, which had a gate that opened onto the residence grounds, as an enclosure trap. Unlike a small trap, the roofless run might well prove less scary to little Gigi. On his own initiative and with his own money, Lee purchased a motion detector and rigged it aimed at the gate, which we partially opened. We tied 100 lb. rope to two points on the gate which was physically close to a window in his home. Lee then ran the lines through the window from which he had removed the screen. He then closed the window. When the motion sensor detected movement, it rang an alarm in the house, so Lee could come and pull the gate shut. We placed fried chicken, raw ground beef, and a t-shirt with Gigi's foster mom's scent on it. At 1 AM the next morning, the alarm rang. Lee observed Gigi enter the run. He then pulled the rope to close the gate. But we probably hadn't placed the food far enough from the gate, and Gigi, who is incredibly fast and agile, turned quickly and slipped out.
Lee and I were now both worried she would remember, and possibly avoid the run at all costs. Over the next 48 hours, she did approach both trap and run numerous times, but never entered. She was clearly hungry.
Then on Wednesday, February 24, came the sighting at a little after 4 PM that nearly gave Jim a heart attack (he received the call at work and dashed over there). Gigi was reported being seen at the McDonald's which fronts Wisconsin Avenue at Van Ness--a mere six blocks away, but across Nebraska Avenue, which was clogged with traffic. Though the report was not verified, it led us to a change in strategy.
When a dog like Gigi is in the situation she is in, hunger is your friend--as cruel as that sounds. We thought only hunger would overcome her fear of the trap or being caught. But hunger may have caused her to leave the safety of the residence grounds in search of food (she had water and shelter). So I called Eva, and she began feeding her. We decided a less hungry Gig--who might be harder to catch--was far better than a dead Gigi hit by a car.
It was with great relief that both Eva and Lee reported seeing her that night.
At 3:30 AM on Friday, as Gigi was approaching the trap, it blew over, despite being chained to a tree. This was observed by Lee, who, it should be clear, was getting very little sleep. Nancy, Gigi and I will forever be in his debt. That was the night we had 50-60 MPH wind gusts. On the cold, damp, gray dawn of Friday, Nancy and I were as depressed as we has been throughout the search.
Little did we know that twenty-four hours later, Gigi would be safe in Dr. Monsein's basement and, soon thereafter, happily asleep in our home.
The final chapter of the saga: tomorrow. We've received a lot of e-mails with comments. Please post them as comments, so all of Gigi's fans can share!
P.S. Gigi is doing just fine. She is sleeping a lot! No wonder. And playing with our other Sheltie, Lucy. Lee came to visit last night. She did have a bit of loose bowels this morning, which was predicted, but the vet pronounces her AOK. A skinny girl to begin with, she went from 26.2 pounds to 23 (that's a 10% drop). But she will regain that weight with time. The day before she escaped our house, we had her heart tested by a specialist, since she had previously had heart worm (which she got the last time she was on her own). The cardiologist pronounced her heart sound and healthy. The cold weather of the last two weeks makes it highly unlikely that Gigi picked up anything yucky.
