Dumped dog rescued after six weeks in Clearwater backcountry

A rescue mission to catch a dog presumably dumped in the North Thompson backcountry has come to a joyful end after an incredible six weeks of gruelling work by members of the community.

Beka Capostinsky with the Clearwater Humane Society was first alerted to the dog’s predicament by a member of the community at the end of October.

“Someone saw the dog way out in the bush on a logging road and I went out right away to find it, but I couldn’t,” she said. “Eventually other people were seeing the dog 46 kilometres down another logging road. At every sighting I’d go looking.”

Almost every day for six weeks, Capostinsky was out scouring the bush on foot and by vehicle. Members of the small communities in the area reported sightings and donated time and money to the cause, providing drone coverage, trail cameras and a trap to help bring the bewildered dog, nicknamed Ghost Dog, to safety.

“Dogs who are out there go feral, they don’t want to be trapped,” she said. “When you picture the wilderness with mountains and wildlife, that’s what the dog was living in. It knew the roads and game trails and was hunting rabbits and rodents for food and eating deer carcasses to stay alive.”

The dog was covering a large area going around a loop and routinely spending time in a few locations. Following tracks, Capostinsky narrowed down the dog’s movements and eventually set up a trap.

“Somebody offered to build a trap and spent a few days designing and building it with me,” she said. “I had somebody haul it out to the location and left it open with food and straw in there for a week before setting the trap.”

They had remote camera trained on the trap and once they saw the dog was inside and was comfortable, the trap was set and the when the dog returned it was caught.

A community member with knowledge of feral dogs stepped forward to foster it and they turned thier carport into an area to rehabilitate the dog, a female lab.

The dog’s age and overall condition won’t be known until a vet check. It is thin and has some old wounds and scarring on its body.

Since being rescued earlier this week, Ghost Dog is coming out of fight or flight mode.

“She’s proving to be friendly and seems very sweet,” Capostinsky said. “She’s interested in what we’re doing and not running trying to hide anymore. She’s interested in people so she had somebody, she had a home at some point.”

Once Ghost Dog is more comfortable, she will be spayed, dewormed and vaccinated. Depending on her temperament, the humane society will match her with an owner that meets the dog’s needs.

It is suspected the dog was dumped.

“Everyone knows everyone here, it’s a small town and no one knows this dog,” she said.

Capostinsky has been taking in rescues and helping animals in the area for years. Her passion for the work was sparked when she was a child and a mother dog came to her house. She fed the dog and it later brought its puppies to her house for care. She has since done work with animals on cruelty cases for the BC SPCA and at a vet clinic in Cache Creek.

She said the recent retrieval of Ghost Dog was a big win for the North Thompson community.  

“The community and surrounding communities have been amazing, we all came together as one, it took a huge support system to make this happen,” she said.

Anyone who sees an animal where it isn’t supposed to be is encouraged to leave it alone and report it to a local animal welfare organization, as they have knowledge and resources to safely retrieve it.

Go here to learn more about Clearwater Humane Society, make a donation, or report an unusual animal sighting.