Salem volunteers are hoping drivers traveling Highway 22 near Detroit can help them locate a rescue dog wandering in the Cascade foothills for more than three months after surviving a car crash in mid-August.
Sitka, a 2-year-old Siberian husky, was saved from almost-certain death at a high-kill San Bernadino, California, dog shelter and was on his way to a rescue shelter in Bend when disaster struck.
The transporters driving Sitka and two other dogs crashed their vehicle near the Highway 22 bridge heading into Detroit. One dog died in the accident. The other, a female Husky rescued from the same puppy-mill, animal-hoarding home as Sitka, was recovered at the scene.
But Sitka disappeared into the woods bordering Detroit Lake, where he's spent the last three months eluding rescuers.
He was seen as recently as Wednesday when an Oregon Department of Transportation employee spotted the black-and-white, blue-eyed dog trotting along Highway 22 near Big Cliff Dam, said Carol Donahue, of Salem, .
Donahue, who is friends with the owner of the Bend husky rescue, and three other volunteers have tried for the past three months to recover Sitka.
After an animal nonprofit, Lost and Found Pets of Salem Oregon, donated a dog trap and a trail camera, volunteers have driven up daily to put meat in the trap along with providing another food source.
A fundraiser to pay for gas, food and camera batteries raised $655.
Volunteers watched on the trail camera as Sitka repeatedly outsmarted the trap, sneaking meat out and struggling free when he was caught.
The trap ensnared a black bear, Donahue said, but after months of daily trips, Sitka still evaded capture.
Huskies are incredibly bright, Donahue said. And Sitka's past at the puppy mill means he has faced neglect and little human interaction, making the rescue more difficult.
"He's in survival mode," she said. "He's scared."
Volunteers have avoided using nets or sedatives due to the heavily-wooded, rocky area.
Recently, Sitka stopped making appearances on the trail camera.
When the ODOT worker reported seeing the dog Wednesday near Big Cliff Dam, he was at least five miles away from the trap and camera.
Donahue thinks a larger animal, maybe a cougar, might have scared him away from the original area. But the new sighting also worries her. The highway there is dangerous for a dog, narrow and sandwiched between a cliff and the lake.
She also is concerned that a hunter could mistake Sitka for a wolf and shoot him.
"We do not know if he's continued to travel down Highway 22," she said. "If anybody has seen him, we need to be called."
She asked that anyone who spots Sitka not approach him but instead call her at 503-269-1625 or Lost and Found Pets of Salem Oregon at 971-301-2885.
For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth
