Trucker gets his beloved dog back after 25 days on the run

New Castle News

NEW CASTLE, Pa.

For 25 days, Ashanti eluded her rescuers.

Over a 10-mile stretch, up and down Interstate 376 and into Union and Neshannock townships, a group of 15 determined animal lovers tracked the lost dog from Michigan. Each time they got close, her survival instincts kicked in, and she went deeper into flight mode.

In the end, though, the 2-year-old Presa Canario was no match for Team Ashanti.

Ashanti is home today because of a group of rescuers who simply refused to give up during nearly a month of relentless searching though biting rain, whipping winds and a Polar Vortex.

The 100-pound dog disappeared from the Moravia exit off I-376 on Jan. 24 when her owner, Nick Gray, a semi truck driver from Jeddo, Mich., pulled over to give her a bathroom break.

Gray enlisted the help of his brother, Jason, who found the Lawrence County Animal Helpers and other lost pet pages on Facebook and pleaded for help. Immediately, a group of rescuers led by Leslie Mortimer contacted Jason.

And Team Ashanti was born.

Mortimer started with five to six volunteers and before long, a team of 18 from Lawrence, Beaver, Butler and Allegheny counties was assembled. They formed a group chat that included Nick, Jason and their mom, Joan.

“We had boots on the ground pretty quickly, starting at the toll-booth area where she was lost,” Mortimer said.

But as the team visited nearby homes and put up fliers in the area, there was nothing.

“It was like she just vanished,” Gray said.

But Mortimer felt she hadn’t. As long as Ashanti stayed off the busy highways, she knew the team had a chance.

After many attempts over a couple of weeks, she was spotted near Chuck Tanner’s Restaurant and Nick’s Auto Body on Wilmington Road, then near St. Camillus Church on Feb. 16. The team moved a trap behind El Canelo Restaurant and on Feb. 17, Reiber baited it with an Arby’s sandwich and some taco meat.

At 11:14 p.m., Ashanti went after the food inside the trap, and the door closed as team members watching their trail cams exploded in celebration.

“I literally sat there and bawled when I saw her head in the trap,” Reiber said. “I’m sure everyone else did, too.”

Since Gray was on another out-of-state trip, Malacusky and Mortimer met Joan and Jason halfway in Sandusky, for the transfer a day later.

Joan immediately took Ashanti to the vet, where she was determined to have lost close to 30 pounds from her 100-pound frame, but was otherwise healthy. Ashanti waited with Joan at her home in Fenton, Mich., until Gray returned from his trip.

Gray said he will take every precaution to keep Ashanti safe in the future. The rescue team sent harnesses, leashes split in two and a martingale collar home with Ashanti.

“I’ve been emotional since I lost her, and it still feels unreal that I got her back,” he added. “It’s because of some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life that this happened. I will never, ever be able to repay them.”

Read the complete story here: https://bit.ly/2TjK9Re