For weeks, Anchovy Jack slipped just out of authorities’ reach.
The winking pup had escaped from his new home in San Francisco days after undergoing surgery — being neutered and having his right eye removed — and his adoption from an East Bay organization. A former street dog who seemingly couldn’t be contained, Anchovy Jack could even leap over fences.
San Francisco Animal Care and Control said in a statementSaturday that the skittish canine spent weeks roaming the city’s neighborhoods: He was spotted in the Sunset, Richmond and Marina districts, at the Presidio. Each time people tried to catch him, he would escape, according to the shelter.
“Anchovy Jack can run fast, jump high, and was too frightened to slow down and let anyone get close to him,” the statement read.
“Reports of Anchovy Jack sightings flooded into SFACC,” the agency said, “and Animal Control Officers responded to the last reported sighting location time after time. Nobody could catch him.”
The shelter got in touch with Susan Packer, a lost-pet recovery specialist from the Bay Area who runs the rescue group K9Reunite. She had a reputation of capturing elusive dogs, the shelter said in its statement.
In an Oct. 21 lost dog alert on Nextdoor, the shelter begged residents to stop chasing the dog and only call emergency dispatch if he was in traffic or had been confined.
“We’ve attempted to capture him, but he has [eluded] our Animal Control Officers many times. He can jump fences, so the best opportunity to secure him may be to lure him into an area with a ceiling, like a garage,” the post read.
The Times reached out to San Francisco Animal Care and Control, K9Reunite and Packer on Monday night but did not immediately hear back. The agency has not said why the dog’s eye was surgically removed.
Packer and a group of “concerned citizen helpers” tracked the canine from afar to avoid spooking him, according to Animal Control. Whenever officers received reports of the dog on their emergency dispatch line, they would pass the information to Packer.
When the wandering pooch finally narrowed his territory, Packer set up a humane trap and spent several days and nights nearby, waiting for Anchovy Jack to take the bait. One evening, he did, and the patient Packer took him to the Animal Care and Control facility.
As of Saturday, he was “eating, drinking and resting comfortably at the shelter” and was seen by veterinarians.
He won’t be returning to the San Francisco home he ran away from, the shelter said in a Facebook comment, since he needs a “new home that will work with his need for lots of activity.”
Nor will he go up for adoption immediately.
“He needs a foster home with a special rescue group that will allow him to rest and relax before moving on to his next chapter,” the shelter’s statement read.
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