10/07/2026
🧡🐾 WELCOME TO SAFETY, OTIS 🐾🧡
Monday night, a concerned Clayton-area resident made a Facebook post about a stray dog who had been running the county roads. Our volunteers reached out, and what we learned was concerning — this dog had been running for quite some time and was extremely fearful of human interaction. Those county roads are NO place for a timid, terrified dog.
Luckily, our Boots-on-the-Ground volunteers know this area very well. In fact, it’s the exact same area where we previously worked to safely contain the lost Cane Corso, SIRE.
Yesterday, our WCI-LDR volunteers headed out, knocked on doors and revisited some of the same neighbors we had worked closely with several months ago. THIS is where those community connections matter. Many of them remembered us. Some STILL had our cards. After talking with neighbors along County Road 375, Jenn developed a plan and found a good location for a feeding station and trail camera.
Then we waited. And waited. No dog..
Until about 5:30 PM, There he was on camera! 🙌
He stayed around for nearly TWO HOURS, eating good-quality food, licking practically every blade of grass clean and finally filling that belly. That was exactly what we needed. Once a scared, hungry dog learns where a safe and reliable food source is, there’s a pretty darn good chance he’s coming back.
After a long workday, Robin headed out and engaged the humane trap. Then came the part every trapper knows… We waited and held our breath.
Finally, he showed back up. He made a couple laps around the trap, checked everything out and WALKED RIGHT IN💥🐾
And let us tell you — when that trap door came down, this little guy HIT IT. He nearly tipped the entire trap onto its side! 😳
CONTAINED. SAFE. FINALLY. 🙌
Earlier in the day, we had notified Hendricks County Animal Control about what we were doing and why we were in the area. An address was provided. Once he was contained, we called dispatch because we needed assistance transporting him safely to the county shelter. Unfortunately, dispatch did not know exactly where we were located. It was late, completely dark on a county road, and vehicles were flying past us. We knew we couldn’t sit there indefinitely with a terrified dog inside a trap.
Thankfully, the same community that helped us locate him stepped up AGAIN.
A huge THANK YOU to Tom, Jane and your son for meeting us and helping load this dog — trap and all — into the back of our truck.
That right there is COMMUNITY 🧡🐾
When we arrived at the shelter, a county officer was waiting to let us inside. And then this scared little dog surprised us one more time. We were able to get a slip lead on him, opened the trap, and he simply walked out and into the shelter.
Stoic! Brave! Safe! 🧡🐾
We cannot thank everyone enough who played a part in getting this boy off those roads.
Thank you to the concerned resident who made the original post.
Thank you to Diane T. and The Gladden’s Farm Family.
Thank you to every neighbor who spoke with us, remembered us from Sire’s recovery and welcomed our volunteers back into your community.
Thank you to Tom, Jane and your son for stepping up when we needed hands.
And thank you to everyone who understands why Boots on the Ground matter.
The relationships we build in these communities are priceless. Yesterday proved that once again. We’ve said it a thousand times, and we’ll probably say it a thousand more… As cliché as it sounds, it truly does take a village.
And lastly… Our co-founder of WCI-LDR Robin has decided this handsome boy needed a name… For personal reasons, she chose OTIS 🧡🐾
We think it fits him perfectly. We don’t know whether the Hendricks County shelter will continue using the name, but as far as West Central Indiana Lost Dog Recovery is concerned.. He will ALWAYS be our OTIS.
Welcome to safety, OTIS.
You don’t have to run anymore 🧡🐾
—————————————————
An email was sent to the Director of the County Shelter & Animal Control Director last night, here’s a snippet of our thoughts about sweet handsome OTIS:
“….Otis showed no aggression to anyone and was not bothered my anyone’s presence just didn’t want to trust anyone enough to come to them. But he would hang out with you in same area. Seems to be ok with men and women. After the initial shock of being trapped, he trusted us pretty quickly and was eating out of my hands within 5 minutes. Never snarled or showed any teeth. When I met up with the deputy at the shelter, Otis remained calm. I was able to easily get a slip lead on him and he walked right out of the trap. Walked well on the leash and although he was a little worried about me handing him off to the deputy, he went right Into the shelter and into his crate with no issues. He seemed like a really good boy and super sweet which made me very happy and hopeful for his future. If you could keep us updated on his progress, it would be much appreciated…”
** VIDEOS in COMMENTS **
