This is one story in 2020 that has a happy ending! For days now our friends at It Takes a Village No Kill Rescue have been asking for the public's prayers but not their help. That seems odd until you find out why.

Allie is a rescued pup from ITV who, on December 5th, slipped out of her leash and got loose from her new owner while on a walk in downtown Evansville. Allie then swam across the river - yes THAT river; The OHIO River and climbed up the bank of the river into Henderson County, Kentucky. Scared and out of sorts, Allie was dodging any and every one who was trying to capture her so she could be returned safely to Evansville. Trail cams were set up. Drones were flown overhead. Experienced dog handlers were called in and finally today, nearly a week later, after 6 hours and with the help of the handlers' own dogs, they were able to get Allie out into an open field and build her trust using treats until they could get a fence around her. ITV details the rescue:

Allie is now safe. We used drones, cameras and traps this week to try to rescue her! When all that failed, we were lucky to have the volunteer help of experienced dog handlers Lori Wassmer and David Bretz work with ITV team Tangila Smith and Tyler Burnett. They went into the woods with their trained dogs this morning and started working to gain Allie’s trust (with a lot of treats). Allie had broke her collar but anytime she saw a leash she would back off. The team lead her out of the woods and Allie followed. They continued to work on gaining her trust in an open field. After more than 6 hours, we were able to get fencing around her and a lead line on her!!!

They say that other than being hungry and tired, Allie appears to be in good health. She will be spending some time with the professional handlers as they work to help her overcome her trust issues. Henderson Animal Control, Evansville Police Department, Evansville Fire Department and Evansville Animal Care & Control are just a small number of the people involved in Allie's rescue. Perhaps the most poetic of the helpers is one of the trained dogs used to help find her and bring her to safety is actually a former ITV alum and rescue pup named Arlo! 🐾

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