Help bring Asta home

Please help with the cost of bringing Asta back inside to safety.

Asta has evaded multiple attempts to capture her since she

slipped away on September 27. She has thus far outsmarted

Veterinarians, two different lost dog organizations, her human guardian, and some well-meaning individuals.

Emotional and financial costs are mounting. As a last resort she

may need a wildlife Veterinarian to come out to try “shooting” her with a tranquilizer dart.

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Asta slipped away on September 27, and she has been wandering

the streets of Sooke ever since.

She startles very easily and has bolted into traffic too many times. She also often sleeps in the middle the road and doesn’t move when a car comes along.

Asta now spends most of her time very close to home, YET SHE

WON’T GO HOME. We are fortunate that Asta has finally narrowed her roaming radius. But the streets are still busy, and it’s a huge worry that her luck may run out before she can be captured.

Living outside isn't a long-term solution, and colder/wetter weather is fast approaching.

She has started going on regular morning walks with Marisa, Ajax

and me. And they also go on evening walks with her usual nighttime

walking buddies. It’s so weird. Asta walks like a well behaved off-leash dog, comes when called (though never explicitly trained to do so), and she now takes almost all her food from Marisa’s hands. And yet, she is too afraid and too clever to be caught.

Asta sleeps where she can see the front door, and keep an eye out

for Marisa to appear. She even sleeps out in the heavy rain. The nights are getting colder, and she is sometimes shivering when she greets Marisa in the mornings.

Marisa spends hours each day trying to protect Asta from vehicles, playing training games to increase Asta’s confidence, and tirelessly coaxing Asta a little closer to home. A dog trainer who specializes in working with extremely fearful and anxious dogs is providing advice. Asta’s Veterinarians and other behavioural experts hope that we will not have to try any more capture methods that scare Asta into a fearful state that makes her run far. Each capture attempt makes Asta more wary.

A second attempt at sedation involved a Veterinarian and Vet

Technician giving Asta enough medication to knock a Great Dane

fully unconscious. Asta’s fear/anxiety about being caught were able to override the sedation. The Vet Clinic staff said they have never seen anything like it.

Vet bills will soon be adding up.

This last effort was a 5-hour house call by the Vet and Vat tech! (There were also numerous volunteers to manage vehicular and foot traffic, and some helper dogs to give Asta more confidence).

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Who is Asta?:

Asta is a 3.5 year old rescue dog from China who was rejected by her original adopters in Canada before they ever met her. She apparently lived in a rescue facility for almost all of her life. Asta came into Marisa’s life through a complicated series of events, exactly 4 months before she ran off. Asta has many fears and has not yet adapted to living inside. She is under veterinary care for anxiety, and Marisa has been working with a trainer who specializes in very fearful/anxious dogs.

Asta is a wonderful dog with a lot of potential. I've seen her enjoying play with other dogs, she does an adorable little happy dance when she greets Marisa for our morning walks, and she is obviously very smart.

Asta just doesn’t understand that she can learn to be happy and safe inside.

Who is Asta’s guardian?:

Marisa wasn’t planning to get a dog, even though her husband kept

trying to convince her that’s what she needed to do when he died. That was a year ago year ago. For the past 4+ months Marisa has committed a great deal of time and energy into trying to give this unusual rescue dog a chance at a decent life. She is willing do keep trying.

Who am I?

Hi, my name is Adrien Lamoureux, and I live in Sooke, BC. My dog Ajax and I met Asta and Marisa four months ago, as we often walk the same morning route. I’ve enjoyed watching Asta develop confidence over this time. As a dog lover, I wanted to help. And since I can’t catch her, I want to raise funds to do so in the most humane way possible.

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Please help bring Asta home!

What will funds go towards?: The cost of a 5 hr house-call by two

veterinary staff, possibly another trial at sedation &/or dart sedation by a specialized veterinarian, numerous vet-to-vet consultations about this extraordinary dog, and the sedative medications. Asta will also need immediate follow-up care once she is captured - bloodwork, monitoring, and a thorough examination. And because she is not your typical runaway, she will need a veterinary behaviourist and/or animal behaviourist consultation plus follow up - to ensure she has the best chance of learning to live happily as a domestic dog.

ANY donation amount will be greatly appreciated.

I promise to provide updates long after this goal has been reached.

Any funds in excess of requirements will be a donated to one or

more Registered Canadian Charities who support animals in need,

so that they can help other animals and their human guardians.

Thank you!

Adrien