PLEASE CROSSPOST lost Rottie in Illinois

Jamiya · Feb 24, 2005

PLEASE CROSS POST....

Smooth is still lost.

there is also a picture now posted on the following site...
Smooth is a spayed female, very lanky and lean.
http://www.rott-n-chatter.com/Smooth.jpg
>
The accident happened in Illinois on I-24 at mile marker 2 -- not
too far from I-57... south of Carbondale, IL -- not too far from
Paduca, KY -- it is a very rural area. A rescue woman from the area
is going to get it out on the news today so that more people will be
on the look out for her. She was sighted Tuesday morning and the
state police and sheriff have been notified and are going door to
door to make people aware of Smooth and to be on the lookout.
>
She is not the type of dog that would come right up to people she
did not know but is very food motivated -- and a few people from the
area that Smooth knows and would go up to are also going down to
help in the search.
>
Hopefully Diane is watching over and keeping her safe until she is
found.
Click to expand...

OK TO CROSSPOST

Shineillusion · Feb 24, 2005

Thanks for the update. I live 3 miles outside of Carbondale, and know the area you're talking about. So we'll definately be looking.

I thought for a minute we'd found her today, but the dog turned out to be a male. We have him at the kennel, where he's being evaluated for temperment, so far so good, and hopefully he'll find a new home soon.

Jamiya · Feb 24, 2005

I'm guessing Smooth is microchipped or tattooed or something, but I can't say for sure. Thanks for keeping an eye out.

Jamiya · Feb 25, 2005

Another update:

PERMISSION TO CROSSPOST

The following is the latest update on Smooth from Sue Fregien, she has been great at at being helping keep everyone in the search on the same page. Please keep Smooth in your thoughts and prayers... for her safe return.

Pam Kristoff
rottzmom@yahoo.com

> ------ Forwarded Message
> Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 08:16:24 -0600
> Subject: [AGILE] Update on Smooth
>
> Smooth, the MACH2 Rottie who has been at large since Monday's RV
> accident which killed her owner Diane Martin, has been sighted several
> times including yesterday (Wednesday) in the area where the accident
> occurred. A farmer contacted animal control and it appears that Smooth
> had spent the night on his farm. Unfortunately, he would not allow
> anyone besides the animal control officer on his property. But they
> did set a humane trap last night so hopefully we'll have good news
> today.
>
> Jean Matushek, Diane's friend from Chicago and whom Smooth knows, has
> been down there since Tuesday night. She has had the help of several
> people local to the area, including Martha Veatch and Martha Mulkin,
> both of whom have given up hours in their search for Smooth and in
> getting us information about the accident. Michelle Rolando from
> Rottie Rescue has also been working to get publicity to the story from
> the local media, as well as spreading the word in the area. Pam
> Kristoff of Recycled Rotties has been instrumental in making contacts
> between people, and there are a number of Diane's friends from St Louis
> (Carolyn Johnson and Larry Dalan among them) who are going to see if
> there's anything they can do in the area. If Smooth isn't found very
> soon, Diane's best friend and Smooth's other handler Jim Bahr will go
> down to the area to get her to come to him.
>
> It is so amazing (yet not surprising) to see the dog folks come
> together in this horrible circumstance. I am very proud of my
> "community" to see all of these selfless people help out, as well as
> the well wishes and condolences that have come from all over the
> country. We are indeed a special group of people.
>
> I'll update everyone as I get information - I'm a little out of the
> loop in some ways now since everyone is working together closely down
> there, but I'm hoping they'll keep in touch with me and I will past
> things along as soon as I can. Keep praying for Smooth!
>
> --Sue
Click to expand...

honeybears · Feb 25, 2005

well its a good thing she is still around, please keep us updated

honeybear

Jamiya · Feb 26, 2005

Latest Update (2/24 evening) on Diane Martin's Smooth -- the rottie missing in Southern Illinois
Please keep Smooth in your thoughts and prayers.

OK TO CROSSPOST......

**************************************************************
Evening!

I wish I had better news, but we didn't get Smooth today. However, we have a really good lead on the area's she is traveling between. Several residents clearly identified her today and allowed us to leave her crate with Diane's coat in the vicinity that she has been hanging around. Hopefully by tomorrow morning she will have spotted her crate and her mom's scent and hang around the area.

The local newspaper interviewed several of them today and I am still working on the news media. We are also working on getting some help from local families willing to assist on horseback. A local guy gave me a ride on a 3-wheeler through the area where she was spotted, which actually ended up being a direct line between where she was last spotted and the crash site. It's hard to see a trail because of the large number of deer in the area though.

We'll find her tomorrow! I have a good gut feeling!

Michelle
Click to expand...

It's all just so sad. The poor dog is probably trying to figure out where mommy is.

It seems that she wasn't wearing her seatbelt when she had the accident. Please everyone - buckle up!

honeybears · Feb 26, 2005

Oh my, keeping my fingers crossed and praying she will be found shortly, she must be very hungry

Sara · Feb 26, 2005

I'd bet people are putting all kinds of food out for her... I can't get her little picture out of my head... Wondering to and fro looking for mom... Heart wrenching really... Poor girl... I hope they find her and she has someone familiar to greive with!

honeybears · Feb 26, 2005

I had a bizare dream last night I had found her while we are on raft trip ,(how wierd) and I brought her back in an intertube (which is even more wierd)

Sara · Feb 26, 2005

All I've dreampt of lately is drama with the dogs... I'm sooo tired because I'm running around saving dogs and rescuing/finding my own I just can't get any sleep! I'm sure I'll start having horse ones now too... Seems Jack's got sand in his gut so it'll be nerve racking till I can get him on stall mats and emptied out... YIKES... I'll probably dream of my horse in the dog run eating dog poo and dogs escaping into the neighbors yard to eat out of the sand box and getting bloated and rolling around from tummy ache... Ahhh fun night ahead of me... HJ will probably be running back and forth from the horse to the dogs frantically looking for me who...is...what will I be doing...stuck in the new house behind a wall of boxes!

Yes that sums up my dreams and real life activities these days... Boy...if I were out in that area I'd really be in a pickle...searching for a lost Rottie Amongst all the rest of the haywire events! I do wish I could help more than follow the story online...

How are the rest doing??? Do they have places to go and do they need anything like toys and/or food stuff like that?

Shineillusion · Feb 26, 2005

Well, the story made the front page of our local paper today. Hopefully that will help in the search. They've also set up a command post of sorts at a local inn. If I didn't have to work I'd be out there looking too.

Hope they find her soon. The coyotes are becoming really active with the warmer weather we're having. I'd hate to have her tangle with those. They aren't the coyotes you see in the old western movies. These coyotes are huge by comparison, and pretty aggressive toward dogs.

honeybears · Feb 26, 2005

Shine, glad to hear there is so much coverage, She just has to be found soon with so many people looking for her. I know first hand about coyotes, Wylie got attacked by 3 of them last year in broad daylight in front of our house luckily she only had minor bite wounds.

Sara · Feb 26, 2005

Wonder how many of those big guys have dog in there somewhere... I bet lots of them do...

I'll crosspost this in a horse forum...might be some up there who can help too... Dogs and horses you know...they tend to go hand in hand...

Jamiya · Feb 26, 2005

Thanks for the support everyone. I'd go down and help if I thought it would do any good, but Smooth doesn't know me. Hopefully her other handler will go down this weekend and see if he can get her to come for him. Or even better, hopefully she found her crate and settled in to rest on mommy's coat and they can pick her up.

As for the other dogs, all I was told is that they were picked up by a friend. I think they all have homes. I offered to foster any of them that needed it but have not been asked to, so I think they have already been placed. I'm sure she had enough friends that were willing to take the dogs. I was admiring Buttercup (Am Staff) at the trial - that's how I ended up talking with her. I bet I'll see her dogs again with their new owners at a future trial.

All of her dogs were rescues, so I can't even imagine what poor Smooth is going through. I'm sure she will have a whole new pile of baggage to unload when she finally gets to her new home. :cry:

Jamiya · Mar 1, 2005

Another update.

> Friday report.
>
> One sighting of Smooth at 6:30 a.m. She was trying
to cross a highway but
> turned back due to heavy traffic. She is now back
in her "safe" area
> above
> the accident site. We monitored that same road from
noon to after 2 as
> she
> crossed over it and back yesterday at that same
time. Today she did not
> make the attempt.
>
> The local Animal Control guy is a Jerk (capital J)
and refused to let us
> use a humane trap he had borrowed with no success,
so we got our own trap
> this evening and went back down and set it up. He
says it's his job to
> catch her, not ours. I wonder if he gets paid a
bounty!
>
> I got a call tonight from the truck driver who was
first on the scene of
> the wreck. He wanted and needed to talk, and I just
realized what a
> traumatic experience he had, it's obviously haunting
him.
>
> He said that Buttercup's crate was nearly flattened
with her in it and he
> had to bend it with his hands to get her out. He
said there was a piece
> of
> metal sticking out of her rear leg and he pulled it
out. He didn't
> specifically mention her running away and I wonder
if he even realized
> that
> she had.
>
> As for Smooth, his story is very different than what
we've heard. He said
> that when he got to the RV, (he had to stop his rig,
cross 4 lanes on
> foot)
> Smooth was outside and jumping up and down at the
driver's door. He said
> he went around and worked his way in to get to
Diane and Smooth jumped in
> with him but did not threaten him. He said that
when he got Diane's face
> visible after moving debris that had been thrown
forward, Smooth looked at
> her, let out a cry, and jumped out of the RV and
dashed across the 4 lanes
> of traffic. He said he watched helplessly as she
darted and stopped and
> made it through the traffic. He mentioned the small
dogs briefly, said at
> least one of them was near the back and not thrown
around on impact.
> (Buttercup has blood in her urine, she went back to
Chicago today and to
> the vet, I haven't gotten a report on her yet but
she seemed fine, jumped
> all over me and had her paws on my shoulders and
licked my face, this on
> Wednesday.)
>
> The trucker said he came the same route the next
morning (Tuesday) and saw
> Smooth up on the crest where the trooper also saw
her that morning. From
> what we know now, she was still over on the other
side on Tuesday morning
> but knew she wanted to get back and had enough sense
not to try crossing
> the Interstate. By the next day she had found a way
over to her present
> area (via an overpass) where she could go above the
site from the side
> closest to it.
>
> I know there are people all over that want this
news, but I don't know who
> they are and don't have time to look. Please
forward to anyone you think
> will be interested. The number of calls and emails
I'm getting are
> doubling every day and since I'm down at the site
all day I just can't
> keep
> up! Sorry but I'm sure everyone will understand.
>
> We got some major news coverage today with a color
front page spread.
Click to expand...

I am just heartbroken. That poor trucker. And Smooth - I'm sure she knew her mommy was gone and she panicked. And Buttercup, smooshed in her crate. At least it sounds like she is okay. What horrors. Maybe if you have a large vehicle like that it is safer if you secure the crates to something? Is there any way we can make our dogs safer in an accident?

Jamiya · Mar 1, 2005

Here's the text of an article in the local paper near the accident. There are some inaccuracies, like she was traveling from Kansas (not Chicago) to Chattanooga, and according to the truck driver's account, Smooth did not try to prevent his entering the RV.

The statement by Martha Mulkin who saw the news coverage before details were released and saw the dog crate covered with agility ribbons really hit me hard. That must have been so scary for her.

Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)

February 25, 2005

Have you

seen this

dog?

Friends seeking

late owner's

champion

Rottweiler

Author: BECKY MALKOVICH

THE SOUTHERN

Section: A
Page: 1

Article Text:

PULLEYS MILL — Friends will begin combing the Johnson County countryside again this morning, hoping to find a champion Rottweiler who ran away from the scene of an accident on Interstate 24 that killed her owner on Monday.

The dog's owner, Diane Martin of Chicago, died from injuries she received when her RV crashed into a rock wall near mile marker 2, just east of that interstate's split with Interstate 57.

Martin and her four dogs, including an American Staffordshire terrier, miniature Pinscher, a mixed breed and “Smooth,” the Rottweiler, were on their way from Chicago to Chattanooga to attend a dog show where Smooth was scheduled to compete in agility trials. Martin was traveling eastbound on Interstate 24, just east of I-57 when, friends said, a tire blew out and she went off the roadway and struck a rock wall.

A trucker was first on the scene and attempted to help Martin but friends said Smooth was “in protective mode” and blocked the man's entry into the RV. Somehow the trucker was able to remove the dog from the vehicle and Smooth subsequently fled the scene, along with another of the dogs, which was found near the crash site Tuesday morning.

Martin was flown to a St. Louis hospital where she died Monday night.

Carterville resident Martha Mulkin was watching coverage of the accident on a local newscast. While few details of the crash were released, Mulkin said her heart skipped a beat when she saw a dog crate covered with what she knew to be agility trial ribbons.

“I knew it was one of ours,” said the dog enthusiast.

Although scattered across the nation, Mulkin said the agility show dog community is a tight-knit one and as word spread of Martin's wreck, concern for Martin's beloved pet grew. Friends began arriving in the area Tuesday to mount a search, coming from Paducah, St. Louis and Elgin.

An unofficial headquarters was established in the Longhorn Restaurant in Pulleys Mill, where friends reminisced about Martin. One friend said Martin was well known and well liked in the dog show community.

“Everyone from New England through Texas knew her. She did so much for all of us. Finding Smooth is the last thing we can do for Diane,” said Jean Matushek of Elgin.

Another friend, Janine Fabrick Mroz, made the trip from St. Louis to help with the search.

“If the situations were reversed and this was any one of our dogs out here, she'd be doing the same thing. These dogs are like family members,” Mroz said.

Ten-year-old Smooth was definitely one of the family, having competed in agility trials for a number of years. The dog had twice achieved master agility champion and was working on that crown again this year.

During the trials, dogs and their owners or trainers run an obstacle course that includes jumps, seesaws and tunnels. Matushek said everyone loved watching Martin and her dog.

“She was a dancer and had these long limbs. She ran with abandon and she did it barefoot. At the end of every run, Diane would throw her arms up and Smooth would jump up and they would do a celebratory dance, even when they didn't do that well on their run,” Matushek said.

Martin's dogs, including Smooth, were “rescued” dogs, abandoned, stray or neglected dogs that have been rescued and taken into good homes.

“That's where her heart was, in rescuing dogs, giving them a good home and training them,” Matushek said. “Smooth and her sister had been abused when they were younger and Diane took them in. They were very devoted to Diane.”

The searchers believed they were closing in on Smooth's location late Thursday night, with the help of some alert Johnson County residents.

“The people here have been just great, as have the state troopers, Johnson County Animal Control and highway workers, helping us get the word out and showing the fliers around,” Mulkin said. “We've had several sightings this afternoon and we think she is staying in the woods above the wreck site. Hopefully we'll be able to get her by morning.”

Friends said Smooth is not aggressive, but is very shy and may not come if called by a stranger. Anyone who thiks they have seen the dog is asked to call Mulkin at (618) 985-6618 or (618) 303-7175. A reward is being offered.

“A 10-year-old dog is probably not worth a nickel, but she is priceless to her family and friends,” Mulkin said. “She needs to come home.”

beckym@onecliq.net

618-927-5633

Caption:
PROVIDED

Smooth, the champion Rottweiler, competes in a dog agility contest.

CEASAR MARGNI / THE SOUTHERN

Janine Mroz of St. Louis hands out flyers in Goreville while searching for her late friend Diane Martins Rottweiler. Martin died Monday in a wreck on Interstate 24.

CEASAR MARAGNI / THE SOUTHERN

Martha Mulkin of Carterville, set up a search headquarters at The Longhorn Cafe in Pulleys Mill.

Copyright 2005 Southern Illinoisan
Record Number: 1087D19DAAEEF646
Click to expand...

Jamiya · Mar 2, 2005

Website for updates: http://smoothssearch.blogspot.com/

Jamiya · Mar 2, 2005

I don't know if you guys are interested in my frequent updates, but here is the latest:

> Just talked to Jim Bahr....here is the update
> I just talked to Mark and Smooth is in the area that we have been setting
the trap only Smooth was getting her food from the neighbor's dog's bowl
which is in back of the house. The neighbor said it was definitely Smooth.
So they are moving the trap to the back and have put some yummy left over
pork roast in it. I think we are getting closer as she will come back to
where she has been getting food. This is the area that she has been hanging
out. Keep your fingers crossed I think tonight may be the night!
>
> OK to CROSSPOST....
Click to expand...

honeybears · Mar 4, 2005

Thanks, Jimiya, please do keep us posted. at least she is getting food> keeping my fingers crossed and praying she is cuaght soon.

honeybear

Sara · Mar 6, 2005

Yay found this today:

Sue wrote:
Diane Martin's Smooth is no longer on the run - she was caught in one
of the humane traps that the searchers put out - just in the last hour.
IT'S FINALLY OVER!!! Diane watched over her for 11 days and kept her
safe, and she can now go home with Jim Bahr.
It's such a relief, I can't begin to tell you, and I'm sure many, many
people all over the country feel the same way. We can all breathe
now!!

Please remember Diane and her dogs by sending a contribution to
Rottweiler Rescue in her name, so that other dogs can go to terrific
homes like Smooth did.

Thanks again to all that worked and searched and lost sleep down there,
there are so many that I don't want to start naming them as I'll forget
some people. These folks are angels and will have their work and time
paid back manyfold in good things over the next few months, I am sure.
They might want to buy lottery tickets!!!

THANK YOU GOD for getting Smooth safely and home soon!!!

Please forward this everywhere!!
Click to expand...

:y_the_best:

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