'It took a village': Ross couple grateful for community's help in finding dog missing for 34 days

Ginette Conover was losing hope.

Penny, her Pomeranian mix, likely was somewhere in the area of Ross Township, where Ginette and her husband, Kevin, live.

But it was already January, and over one month since Penny escaped through an open gate on Dec. 3.

“It was a horrible 34 days,” Ginette said.

It all started when Ginette let her three dogs out to play in the yard early that day. Penny managed to push open a gate to pursue some local critters.

“To my horror, when my husband called for the dogs to come inside, Penny was missing. Quickly panicking, we went out to search for her,” Ginette said.

Ginette and Kevin began frantically searching for Penny, finally spotting her a couple of hours later, strolling toward busy Thompson Run Road. However, as an already skittish pet, Penny didn’t respond and instead ran toward Derwent Drive, which leads to Ross Park Mall.

“My husband and I continued to drive around looking for her, but by the end of the night, we were exhausted, in shock, and very upset,” Ginette said.

The next day, their son, Sean, hung flyers and posted about the lost pet online. Within 48 hours, they had a call that Penny was spotted in the area. And they also had a call from Diana, a local resident who volunteers her time to find lost pets.

Diana works with about 15 different volunteer rescuers, like herself, to find lost pets.

“We work together. Our goal is to get the pet or animal home,” said Diana, who doesn’t want to use her last name but lives in Ross.

Diana told Ginette that Penny may be hard to catch.

“Diana explained that Penny was most likely in ‘survival mode,’ meaning she would only be focused only on finding water, food and a safe place to sleep and hide,” Ginette said.

Ginette also used the services of a local drone company, 412 Aerials, which offers pet-finding services.

Team Penny quickly set up a drone search at the Home Depot in Ross, where Penny was last seen.

“It was a bitter cold and windy evening. The search continued for 90 minutes, until snow started and it became too snowy to achieve accurate sightings. We all agreed to postpone the drone search for one day due to the weather. There were no sightings during that long, sad day,” Ginette said.

The next day, Penny was quickly spotted in that area near a retention pond, burr bushes, a water reservoir and many deer.

She also was favoring the Guardian Storage Facility, not far from the mall, which gave permission to place two animal-friendly cages on their property to catch Penny. The cages were set up with food and cameras.

The group was able to see the dog checking out the food but not going in the cage. Those were days seven and eight since she left home.

Then it would be 21 days of nothing.

Diana, Kevin and Ginette took turns refreshing the food for the cages every day at 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. for two weeks straight.

“The weather was harsh with rain and snow, and temperatures often dipped below 10 degrees at night. And still, there was no Penny sighting, no paw prints, nothing,” she said.

They made the “very difficult” decision to remove food, cameras and cages, Ginette said.

“My birthday, the holidays — we tried to make the most of it, but not knowing where she was or what had happened to her cast a very dark shadow over everything,” Ginette said.

Then on Day 28, they received a call from a UPS driver who saw a missing dog poster and spotted Penny near John J. Kane Regional Center on McIntyre Road. The security guard there also saw the dog. So the cages returned.

“The next five days were exciting and excruciating,” Ginette said, as the team closely monitored the cameras, watching Penny eat the food but not enter the cage.

A few days later, Diana decided to change tactics and assembled a “raytripper” — a larger type of cage, designed to automatically close the trap door when the dog “trips” a sensor.

At first, the pup’s stubbornness kept her from entering the cage, but 34 days after Penny had gone missing, at 8:02 p.m., they had her.

“Within minutes, we were with her at the cage. Kevin and I kneeled in the snow, and Penny licked our hands through the cage. Words cannot describe the happiness and peace we felt,” she said.

A trip to the veterinarian the next day showed she had only lost 4 pounds and had a few ticks. Overall, she was in good health and good spirits.

“It took a village to bring Penny home, and we continue to be so grateful and in awe of all those that helped us and hoped with us,” Ginette said.

Diana, who will search for dogs and cats, has been doing this for almost eight years.

“Nobody realizes what goes on behind the scenes. They see the happy dogs getting reunited. They don’t realize we may be out until 2:30 a.m. trudging through snow, cold and sleeping in cars. That’s the stuff we find rewarding,” Diana said.

“There are a lot of rescuers that deserve this credit. I think that’s important,” said Diana, who just picked up tips on rescuing over the years.

The helplessness of a lost pet is what tugs at her heartstrings as well as the moment when one is found.

“Just to watch the owner’s relief and happiness, smiling ear to ear, makes it all worthwhile,” she said.

If anyone ever loses a pet, she recommends posting it on social media and posting flyers.

And never give up.

“We tell them that all the time. There’s always hope. We had other dogs that are (missing) much longer … (than) Penny,” she said.

A special thank-you

In a note of appreciation, Ginette extended a special thank-you to everyone who helped with the search for Penny:

“Special thanks to my husband, Kevin; Diana, Gail and Paula; local lost dog finders, Jackie and Dee; our son, Sean; Aerial 412 drone operator, Rob; the UPS driver, Dave; the security guard at Kane Regional, Tim; the Kane Regional staff; the Kane Nursing Home staff; the Guardian Storage unit staff; the staff at Ross Park Mall; and the neighbors and community of Ross and McCandless townships.”