A dog that escaped from her North Attleborough yard is home safe after days on the run, the family tells WJAR in Providence, adding that their happy ending wouldn't have been possible without the kindness of strangers.
According to the WJAR report, the 14-month-old dachshund named Chelsea escaped a fenced-in yard on Virginia Avenue last week. Her owners, Glenn and Dorthy Haskell, immediately began a search and posted on Facebook asking for help. Dorothy say the neighborhood came out in force to support the search, but by nightfall Chelsea was still missing.
"Everybody came out. They came out of their doors. They were hiking through the woods. They were leaving their lights on and water out," Dorothy told WJAR.
The next day, Dorothy said they got a call from a woman who thought she'd spotted Chelsea on 295. Another driver pulled over to help and called police, but Chelsea ran off.
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With a sighting area to work off, Dorothy began searching near 295, and also Interstate 95. At one point, Chelsea was running across the busy highway. Dorothy says a DPW truck and other drivers tried to help catch her, with one woman even blocking traffic.
“She stopped three lanes of traffic on 95 so that this one could run safely across with all of these workers and state police chasing her," said Dorothy. "I wish I knew who she was. It’s horrible to think of your dog being missing but when you know your dog is on 95 it’s a nightmare."
By this point the Haskells had started working with the nonprofit Missing Dogs Massachusetts. It was volunteers from Missing Dogs Massachusetts who ultimately trapped Chelsea and brought her home.
“It was a dream, it was an absolute dream. I had been crying for four days," Dorothy said.
Chelsea had lost some weight but was otherwise healthy and unhurt after her adventure. The family is grateful to everyone who got involved in the search.
“To have just the goodness of strangers, if you had any doubt, it definitely restored your faith in humanity, that there were hundreds and hundreds of people that could be there for you in your time of need," Dorothy told WJAR.
