AMHERST — Efforts are continuing for a third week to locate a dog that ran away from its owners on Mount Holyoke Drive just hours after they brought it home on Dec. 11.
Nina Scott said Monday that several professionals are working daily to track down Hannah, the yellow Labrador retriever that she and her husband Jim obtained from the Franklin County Regional Dog Shelter and Adoption Center.
“I could not ask for better help,” Scott said, adding that she has had many sleepless nights worrying about Hannah’s fate.
Debra Jones Bachrach, a dog officer from Petersham and a volunteer with Missing Dogs Massachusetts, Gabi Trudeau, office manager at the adoption center, and Carol Hepburn, Amherst’s animal welfare officer, have been a regular presence on South Mount Holyoke Drive and other areas of South Amherst where Hannah has been spotted.
The closest Hannah has come to being brought back from her journey was getting caught in a contraption Bachrach created. On the evening of Dec. 19, Hannah got into this cage, but pushed her nose through the netting, got on her hind legs and was able to climb out the top. A surveillance camera activated by the motion Hannah made, shows the dog freeing herself after about six minutes inside, Scott said.
A live trap, with food inside, continues to be set up near Crocker Farm Elementary School, but so far Hannah has not entered it. A neighbor’s cat got into the trap, though, much to the Scotts’ chagrin.
Hannah has also been sighted wandering in several places near West Street and Pomeroy Lane. The video of her indicates she still has her collar, but got out of the leash that she had been dragging since escaping while Jim Scott took her for a walk.
Nina Scott said Hannah’s shyness is making her rescue more challenging.
“What makes it so difficult is she won’t come toward people,” Scott said. “She’s still very frightened.”
Anyone who sees Hannah can call with tips to 413-478-7084 or 413-768-0172.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
