Rob Baycroft and Rusty, the dog he rescued from Birch Lake in early May. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

recovering in a new home

Dog rescued from Clearwater County lake, Alberta SPCA investigating

Jun 10, 2021 | 3:33 PM

A central Alberta dog has a second lease on life thanks to a caring fisherman.

Rob Baycroft, an Airdrie resident who was angling near Birch Lake in Clearwater County on May 4, tells rdnewsNOW he’d arrived in the area and saw an animal coming out of the bush.

“Of course I thought it was a bear or something, but then I realized it was just a dog,” he recalls.

Baycroft watched the dog go up and down the road several times and at one point struggle to escape a muddy water hole he’d slipped into.

“I went fishing for about an hour, came back and there he was again. I tried following him and calling him, but when I’d get out of the truck, he’d run away. Plus, I had no food at the time and cell service isn’t good out here at the best of times,” Baycroft says.

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“I went into Caroline, tried calling Fish and Wildlife, and they said it wasn’t their area. I called a rescue place in Rocky who couldn’t do anything. I then got a hold of Alberta Animal Services in Red Deer, but there’s a process there too before someone can come out.”

Baycroft drove into Innisfail, bought three packages of sandwich meat and returned to the scene.

Photos show the progression from finding Rusty near Birch Lake to recovering from surgery at Alberta Animal Services in Red Deer. (Supplied)

After some coaxing and the use of a phone charger cord as a makeshift leash, he got the dog into his truck and took him to Alberta Animal Services (AAS).

“I knew he was by himself and that he must’ve been dumped. There are no farms around here. He was struggling to walk, looked exhausted, and at one point when I’d tried to get close to him, I was a foot away and he didn’t even flinch, so I thought he must be deaf and/or blind. I also noticed a patch of blood on his neck area,” he says.

“It was a little surreal and kind of sad. For someone to come out here to the middle of nowhere and just leave him… there are plenty of other options.”

At Alberta Animal Services, the dog was assessed, given a bath and renamed Rusty for his red fur. Rusty also had surgery to repair his aforementioned wounds.

AAS also noted on its Facebook page that the wounds appeared not to be from a bite.

Dwane Thomas, AAS Director of Enforcement, notes Rusty is 15 or 16-years-old and indeed has vision problems and dental problems.

Now, Rusty is thankfully not only on the road to recovery, but has a new home.

Red Deer-based shelter Companion Animal Outreach Services (CAOS) shared on Facebook May 25 that Rusty had been adopted.

“We want to give everyone the reassurance that Rusty’s new family will ensure he lives a happy, pain-free life. They promise to ensure that Rusty has access to proper nutrition/veterinary needs and of course promise to love him unconditionally for the rest of his life,” the post says.

“We want to thank everyone who stepped up to fight for Rusty, for all who donated toward his vet bills, for the fisherman who ensured Rusty was brought to safety, for all the staff and vet team who worked tirelessly ensuring Rusty felt no more pain. It is because of our community that we can rescue animals like Rusty. We are so proud to be a part of such a caring community!”

CAOS also notes it’s started ‘The Rusty Fund,’ which is to help other animals they receive who are in a similar situation to Rusty’s. Email info@caosab.ca for more information.

According to Alberta SPCA, an investigation into how Rusty came to be in the Birch Lake area and with the wounds he had remains open as of June 9.

“In order to lay charges, we do have to be able to prove the animal suffered distress as defined by the Animal Protection Act,” explains Dan Kobe, Communications Manager.

ANOTHER RESCUE

Baycroft shares he was out for a drive in the Turner Valley area on June 9 when he saw a mother elk with baby in the ditch.

He says the mother had jumped a barbed-wire fence, hoping the baby would follow.

“When the baby tried walking through the fence, it tripped and spun over, getting its hind leg caught in between two wires,” he says. “I went down into the ditch and freed it. Eventually its mother came back and guided the baby across the field.”

(Rob Baycroft)