A new group in Altoona is dedicated to helping pet owners find their lost animals.

 

On October 27th Elizabeth Dabbs went to Bedford to see her parents.

 

And she took her dog Pippin along for the ride.

 

 “My dad asked if he could take her into town just to kind of show her off to some of his friends, and introduce her to people and things like that,” Dabbs said.

 

Shortly after she received an urgent phone call.

 

 “i don’t even think he was gone 10 minutes and he said ‘Pippin slipped her harness and she’s pretty much running loose through downtown Bedford,'” Dabbs said.

 

She said immediately she turned to social media to help bring her pup back home.

 

Pippin ran from downtown Bedford all the way to the county fair grounds.

 

 “Right away she almost had 400 shares to her picture, she was just all over the place. She was in Georgia, she was in Arizona, she was in Canada, everybody was just rooting for this little dog,” Dabbs said.”

 

Especially Kelly Gunsalles, a member of W.A.W Pet Recover of Altoona Pa., a new rescue group in Blair County.

 

 “Finally I decided I was just going to go over there and I helped set the trap, we tried different kinds of food, trap placement and we just couldn’t catch her,” Gunsalles said.

 

While they knew were Pippin was, the dog ran away every time a person got close.

 

With some help from trail cams, they were able to keep track of her and put together a bear trap with dog food inside.

 

It took nearly a month to catch her.

 

 “When I watched her this morning and I saw her in the cage I just cried. I just broke down. I was so happy you know that she was finally caught,” Gunsalles said.

 

Now Pippin is back home, just in time for Thanksgiving.

 

 “We’re just very excited and I think she’s pretty much going to sleep the night away because she’s had a big day, a big couple weeks,” Dabbs said.