FRENCHVILLE, Maine — The town’s animal control officer is seeking the public’s help to locate the owner of a beagle that seriously injured its paw last week when it got caught in a coyote trap.
Dean Lavoie, who also serves as the animal control officer in St. Agatha, said the female, unspayed dog was found caught in the trap late Friday, Dec. 5, in a wooded portion of a landowner’s property in Frenchville. The landowner’s daughter-in-law called the Maine State Police, who directed her to Lavoie.
The dog’s “right paw was swollen, and she had no collar or tags on to identify her,” Lavoie said Wednesday. He added that the Fort Kent Animal Hospital also scanned the dog but did not find an identifying microchip. “We have no idea who she belongs to.”
The hospital immediately began treating the dog, who Lavoie said is believed to be between 2 and 3 years old. Lavoie then decided to bring the dog home so he could personally care for it, and has been bathing its paw in warm water twice a day since.
The trap was legally set, Lavoie said, and the owner was checking it every day.
Dr. Christina Yule, a veterinarian at the Fort Kent Animal Hospital, has been treating the beagle. Lavoie said there had been some concern that the dog’s paw might have to be amputated, but the beagle seems to be recovering, Lavoie said, and there is hope the paw can be saved. The dog was scheduled to receive laser therapy on her paw Wednesday afternoon to reduce inflammation.
Yule said the paw looked significantly better on Monday then it did when she saw the dog Saturday.
“The circulation still is not good, but she is on antibiotics and steroids,” the veterinarian said Wednesday. “If infection does not set in, she should be OK.”
The veterinarian said the dog’s teeth are in good condition and she appears to have been cared for by someone.
“It is difficult, because all beagles kind of look alike,” she said. “And when there are no tags or microchip, it makes it pretty hard to find the owner.”
PAWS Animal Welfare Society in Fort Kent, a nonprofit cat rescue shelter, posted the dog’s picture on its Facebook page and passed on the information in the hopes of finding the owner. Lavoie said one individual said she believed she saw the dog wandering in Madawaska last week.
Lavoie said if the dog is not claimed after an eight day period, which is this Saturday, it will be put up for adoption.
Anyone with information about the dog should contact Lavoie at 231-0079.