Help Needed to Locate Abandoned Dogs in Gallagher Township, Drone Requested
By Christopher Miller
GALLAGHER TOWNSHIP – More than a month has gone by since several dogs were found abandoned on top of the mountain along the border of Gallagher and Colebrook Townships.
“I saw a Facebook post on December 5 where a hunter saw four dogs up on the mountain running between tree stands,” Joy Russell, a local animal lover, told The Record.
“No one was trying to trap or capture the dogs because hunting season was going on, so I waited until the season was over. At that time I found two dogs and one had quills in its face. We’ve since located two dogs living under a log over the mountain and we were able to trap a couple and send them to the SPCA.”
How the dogs ended up on the mountain remains a mystery, but Joy suspects that they were abandoned and are not akin to the wild.
“When the dogs were first found they were willingly going to the hunters looking for help, believing in humans. That tells me they have been around humans and have depended on them in the past. Since then they are now all dispersed and afraid of humans, where the fight or flight mentality has taken over them. They are fighting now, for their lives,” Joy said.
“If you approach them, the dogs will run.”
Joy has spent the better part of the last 14 days, since hunting season has ended, to try to trap the dogs to take them to the Clinton County SPCA.
“They’ve been seen throughout the northern portions of Gallagher and Colebrook Townships; near East Ferney Trail, around 1157 Trout Run Road in Lock Haven, the Carrier Road, Oak Ridge Road, Graham Road, and all side trails,” a flyer said.
She also said that some dogs have been spotted a few miles south of the Black Forest Inn and in the vicinity of Pat Reeder’s Tavern.
“They are German Shepherd mixes,” Joy said. “I am looking for someone who can help out with a drone, bonus points if they have a heat-sensing camera, to try to locate the dogs.”
Joy is pleading that if the dogs are located do not approach them or they will run.
“Please leave any kind of food you may have or can spare, pin the location on your phone, and get in contact with either Tyler Boring or myself (phone numbers are at the bottom of this story).
The dogs range in age from five years old and younger.
“It’s life or death for these dogs now.”
If you have any information about the whereabouts of the dogs, information about who abandoned them, or if you have camera or video footage of them on your property, please reach out to Joy Russell at 570-660-2387, Tyler Boring at 570-419-1612, or the Clinton County SPCA at 570-748-4756.
Special thanks to Tyler Boring, Christine Hess, Crissy Lehman, and Jen Bottorf for their help and assistance.
