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Posted on Mar 18, 2008 1:04 AM
My working partner, one of my best friends, my 4-legged treasure, made her journey to the Rainbow Bridge in the early morning hours on Monday, February 11th . This is my tribute to a wonderful Bloodhound who served our community and beyond in her all-too-short lifetime. Rummy was met by thousands of people attending the many public events she participated in over the years, including the annual PetStravaganza and demos. at classes for some of our U. of I. students, Boy Scouts and other groups… or those who observed her working training trails or assisting law enforcement in missing persons cases.
Rummy excelled at working aged trails in which the subject left in a vehicle, and she did it with ease. Her most extraordinary case was a call-out by the Warren County (IN.) Sheriff in December of 2004, in the search for a missing 61-year-old man. It was the 15th day of his disappearance, and none of our Bloodhounds had ever worked a trail this aged, but we responded and started her on a good scent article placed outside the health center in Danville where he was last seen. She quickly picked up the scent, and followed it on what turned out to be a marathon trail. Once she cleared the city and indicated our subject went South on Route 1, we were able to use the “drop-trail” method and transport her in the sheriff’s vehicle, letting her out to check major intersections along the highways to determine direction of travel. She continued to Paris, IL., then to West Terre Haute and Terre Haute, IN., leading us to two salvage yards along the way where employees identified pictures of the man and his vehicle to the sheriff. A few other locations, including an off-the-path country store where he had likely stopped for some food, were also identified by Rummy… to confirm that we were still on the man’s trail. That first day, we logged 94.2 miles until we had to discontinue on Route 63 near Hinsdale, IN.
It wasn’t until the 23rd day of his disappearance that we were called back to resume the trail, but Rummy had no problem picking up the scent and continued to Route 41, where the search was called off near Boswell, IN., after logging another 56.3 miles. All totaled, she had covered 150.5 miles on an aged, highly contaminated vehicle trail! Two days after we got back home, there was a news report that the missing man had been found alive and well. He drove back into Illinois and was spotted hiding out in a small town by someone visiting friends or family and who happened to know and recognize him, as he had been a barber for many years. This person contacted the sheriff’s department and they brought our wayward missing person back home. He simply decided he was not going home, and drove for a few hundred miles in the process. While Rummy did not get to make the “find” as she tried so hard to do, she demonstrated the amazing capabilities of a great, scent-discriminating man-trailer and, I believe, probably holds a record for this marathon trail.
Now, it will be up to her littermate brother, Blackjack, and three of her daughters (Trail’s End Annie Oakley, …Calamity Jane, and …Lady Godiva/“G”) that we kept as our man-trailing stock, to continue in her place. Rummy was in great spirits for her Sunday breakfast, but when she wasn’t right there to greet me for her supper, I knew something was horribly wrong. When she finally came out of her house in the kennel building, I could see she was very depressed and was showing signs of bloat and torsion. Gastric dilatation and volvulus syndrome (GDV), occurs most often in the large breed dogs when the stomach dilates and twists… and it is a merciless killer without immediate detection and surgical intervention. We rushed her in to the U. of I. Small Animal Clinic, where she was x-rayed and stabilized for emergency surgery. I asked to see her before they took her in for the procedure and she was up on her sternum, which seemed a promising sign to an otherwise guarded prognosis. I remember how beautiful and stoic she looked, while I hugged her and told her how much I loved her… just as we do every day to each of our dogs. She was in most capable hands, and the surgeon was to call if anything came up. When the phone rang in the early hours, my whole world fell apart with the news that it was much worse than expected and a large portion of the tissue from the esophagus to most of the stomach was strangulated and beyond hope of saving. If I had been shot in the heart, it couldn’t have been more painful than the decision that had to be made and the devastation of losing such a great dog! They kept her stabilized so that I could go back in to be with her, she would not have to be alone at the end and I could say my last goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but she had to be spared any more suffering.
Rummy will be buried on our farm beside those who passed before her; the part of her that has gone on to the Rainbow Bridge is in good company; her memory will be with us forever; and I will continue to include her in the greeting with the others each day… We love you, Rummy!
-- Joyce and Frank
We have volunteered assistance with man-trailing Bloodhounds for 22+ years. A 1987 missing person/murder case was re-enacted for The New Detectives on the Discovery Channel in October of 2001. A recent demonstration by Rummy was taped by WCIA-TV (Channel 3) and aired Sunday, July 1st, 2007, on Illini Farm and Garden TV.
Regarding your research on Puppy Mills... they need to be put out of business, and any of the Breed Rescue groups would surely be grateful if you called to their attention any links to those websites that may have inadvertently been posted on the Breed Rescue sites!