BOISE, Idaho — If it’s something people in the Treasure Valley can agree on, it is dogs and how much the community cares for them. Three Boise women have taken their love for rescue dogs and turned it into a volunteer group driven to find and trap lost or stray dogs and reunite them with their families.
"We've had situations where if there wasn't a trap, the dogs would have perished, period. No one can catch it," said Nicole Jenkins, a member of Ladies and the Trap. "So to be the difference between that happening or not is huge."
Ladies and the Trap formed a little more than a year ago, after meeting each other through the rescue dog community in the area. They spend their days and their nights searching, putting up missing dog posters and setting up traps to help families in distress and their four-legged friends. The group said they have been able to help more than 100 dogs so far.
"It's the moment we can look at the owner and say, 'Your dog's in the trap' or it's the moment we can bring a dog home and scan it for a microchip and it dings," Ladies and the Trap member Jamie Lough said about her part of being part of the volunteer group.
People all over the Valley, and sometimes even out of the state, reach out to the ladies for help. One of their favorite memories so far has been helping Ava Anderson and her dog Roger reunite after being separated for 53 days.
"It just takes a second to lose control and he happened to get out of the house and out of the yard and he was gone," group member Debbie Johnson explained about what happened.
Anderson, who lives in Salt Lake City, was visiting family in Boise on Mother's Day weekend when Roger escaped. She quickly got in touch with the Ladies for help.
"Anytime she thought her dog was in the area, she was there," Lough said. She added the group encourages people in these types of situations to lean in on one another to avoid feeling all alone.
Anderson and the group would frequently search the North End foothills, other areas of Boise and wherever they would get sighting tips. There were even a few close encounters with Roger, but no luck in trapping him.
After fewer and fewer sightings, the Ladies said hope was nearing the end. That was until Anderson, who was headed back to Salt Lake City, was alerted of another sighting in the Kuna area, which was more than 50 miles away from where he ran away.
Lough said as soon as she got word, she dropped everything and went out to the sighting to set up a trap.
"We had to make an assumption that it was him and respond as though it was him," Lough said.
Within an hour, Roger was successfully captured and identified. He was delivered back to Anderson the next morning.
"Do not give up on your dog," Lough said. "Your dog is out there and we're going to find him. We did."
Happy endings like this story are what the Ladies say continues to drive them each day.
They said the best piece of advice they can give someone who finds themselves in a similar situation is to get missing posters up as soon as possible. People won't know your animal is missing until you make awareness.
The volunteer group runs on donations so they can buy equipment like traps, food and cameras and they use it for gas money because they work to find dogs around the Valley. They said these donations are the reason they're able to say yes to anyone who is in need of help.
If someone is in need of help, reach out to the Ladies via Facebook messenger, phone (208-502-0340) or ladiesandthetrap@gmail.com.
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