End animal suffering in KCMO urban core

We got  a call from Rosa, a woman in the community,  on a momma dog with 2 puppies living under a shed in her neighbor's back yard.  This was in an area we don't usually serve, but she said she had called everywhere and no one said they could help her. So we loaded up our traps, a net, a crate and hot dogs to try and lure them in.  As soon as those pups saw us approaching the yard they ran under the shed.  We saw no sign of momma.  We started trying to lure the puppies out with food, but it wasn’t really working. After awhile, momma showed up in the yard next door.  She kept her distance with a close eye on her pups.  The house was abandonded.  This little family was scared, had been on their own, and only had each other.   

We set up the big trap in the yard with momma, and the small trap by the shed with the pups.  With the traps baited with smelly food, we retreated to the van. It wasn’t long until we heard the familiar noise of the trap slamming shut.  Momma was in the trap!  She must have been starving.  We had been there working on this situation for about 1 1/2 hours so we were thrilled. Now with momma in the trap, we could more easily get the babies.

Momma was VERY agitated and upset. The moms are difficult to work with because they are so protective of their babies-which they should be.  She began slamming herself against the sides of the trap and pushing and clawing at one of the front corners and all of the sudden, it broke and momma shot off!   We were devastated. This had never happened to us before and we were heart broken.

We knew momma would not come near that trap again, so we turned our attention to the puppies. The clearance under the shed was maybe 6 inches. The puppies were smack dab in the middle where we couldn’t reach.  We worked for  hours and had to finally call it a day. We had upset all of them and knew they needed to settle back down. This back yard was secluded, so we were able to leave our traps, net and crate there. We tripped the traps until we could come back. Rosa worked over night so no one would be able to hear the pups if they got trapped. 

 A couple days later Rosa called and she had the puppies !  She figured out how to set the trap, they got in at the same time and now she had them secured in her back yard !  We headed over to get them.  They were so scared you could see it on their faces.  This was likely the first time they had ever been touched by human hands ever. We fed and watered them and put them in a nice big crate with lots of blankets and covered them up and let them be. This was the beginning of their new life.

Ever so slowly they started to come around, we took care of their medical needs, then were able to move them to a foster home.  With very patient foster parents, day by day, little by little, Ester and June started to trust; helped out a lot by their canine foster brother and sister.  You could just see the change in their their eyes as they grew more confident. 

Ester and June will soon be in a forever home, but we haven't and won't forget about Momma.  We will keep trying.  And all this is possible because of support from our donors.  Boots on the ground, saving lives, one dog at a time.