At Wyoming's Split Rock Rest Area, a young stray dog has stayed just out of reach for three weeks. Rescuers say she can resemble a wolf from afar, and while she will take food from a rescuer's hand, she still slips away from every leash.
Here's what to know
Cowboy State Daily reported that after the fire department reported a loose dog at the rest area on Sept. 19, Furever Found sent staff on a 90-minute drive to the site, about 18 miles east of Jeffrey City, to try to rescue her.
Furever Found shelter manager Amanda Wood named the dog Diya, meaning "wild heart," Cowboy State Daily reported.
Most evenings after work, Furever Found board president Mark Lewis returns to the rest area to feed Diya and build trust, little by little.
"She recognizes my truck," he told the outlet. "When I pull up she always comes up to the truck and then she follows me down and watches me put the food and water out. Then she lays down around me and will hang out an arm's distance away."
"She's smart," Lewis said. "Even while she's eating out of your hand, she will watch that leash."
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Lewis has also tested a kennel, a live trap and tranquilizers tucked into hot dogs, but none of it has worked yet.
More background
According to Wood, social media posts about Diya have drawn more than 100 people to the rest area to check on her. Supporters also gathered in Riverton to discuss how to bring her in.
People have left so much food for Diya, Lewis said, that she has begun burying some of it. The shelter even heard from someone with the Bureau of Land Management after a box of Chester chicken was dropped off for her.
Lewis said freezing temperatures and predators are not his main worry. What concerns him most is the chance that someone sees Diya, mistakes her for a wild animal, and shoots her.
"Lots of things have been shot up there," he said, according to Cowboy State Daily. "Trash cans, signs. She looks kind of like a coyote."
Wood said Diya had been purchased from a breeder by a family living between Cody and Thermopolis. On the drive home, she slipped out of her collar at the rest area, and although the family came back again and again, even during rainstorms, they never got close enough to catch her.
What's being done?
To make the trap feel safe, Lewis and other shelter workers set a live trap and left it open so Diya can move through it freely. Cowboy State Daily noted that Lewis said all of her meals are being put there now so she starts treating it as familiar rather than dangerous.
That approach depends on people no longer leaving extra food around the rest area, the shelter said. "We're just asking volunteers to get other people to stop feeding her," Lewis said. "Every night I go up there, there's food all over the place. So like she doesn't really need to go into the trap to get food because there's food everywhere."
Volunteers are also arranging overnight shifts so Diya won't be alone if the trap shuts. Lewis plans to take the first night, and two additional volunteers are prepared to take turns after him.
If they succeed, the rescue already has space ready for Diya. "We've already got her place set up. She's already got her own anti-anxiety bed ready and everything. We just got to get her here," Wood said.
Where can I learn more?
Diya's long stay at the rest area echoes these stories about wary dogs and close calls with canines.
• In California, a shelter dog healing from abuse is now training to comfort children.
• A former stray works in conservation, locating wild animal scat with Rita Santos.
• In drought-stricken country, rescuers save a wayward coyote from a slippery pond.
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