Missing Dog Lost on Vacation Taken in by Kind Strangers After Successful Year-Long Rescue Mission
Deanna and Denny Suggitt were patient with the skittish dog Barley as they brought him food daily
WXYZ-TV Detroit | Channel 7/YouTube
Deanna and Denny SuggittFollowing the year-long rescue of a beloved dog named Barley in Michigan, the strangers who took care of the pup have finally taken him home.
According to local news outlet Fox 17 West Michigan, Deanna and Denny Suggitt of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. found Barley in July 2023. Barley went missing from the dog's owners while camping in Tahquamenon Falls.
Barley's original owners posted about the missing pet, who happens to be skittish (or easily scared), on Facebook and even made several 10-hour drives to the campsite to keep searching. However, after so many trips, the owners relinquished ownership of Barley, reports The Detroit Free Press.
Meanwhile, the Suggitts happened upon the Facebook post about Barley and started to keep an eye out for him. Community members eventually saw him in Brimley, about 50 miles from where he was initially lost. People would post about where they saw him, but that wasn't enough for Deanna.
She took it upon herself to try and rescue the dog but knew the mission wouldn't be so simple.
Keeping in mind how skittish Barley was, Deanna patiently made the 20-minute trip to Brimley to see Barley and leave him food. Regardless of the weather, she was out there taking care of him.
In August 2023, the Suggitts began going out at 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. to bring Barley food, reports The Detroit Free Press.
"She was boiling him liver and hot dogs and put it on a bed of pedigree dry food every morning and every afternoon," Denny told Fox 17 West Michigan. "We had to leave at a certain time to take it out to him."
At first, Barley would take the food and run. Eventually, the dog began to trust the Suggitts and even noticed if they were behind schedule.
"If we were running late for some reason, like a winter storm or something, he would come out on the cameras and look down the road like ‘Where are you?’ " Deanna recalled.
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Barley slowly became comfortable around Deanna and Denny and would come closer to them when they visited with food.
Over a year after Barley went missing, a friend of the couple was able to safely trap him. They brought him to the Chippewa County Animal Shelter to get checked out.
“We have some amazing news,” the Chippewa County Animal Shelter announced in a Facebook post last month. “After a year of feeding and building trust, Deanna Suggitt and Sharon, a professional dog trapper, were able to catch Barley, the dog who was lost at Tahquamenon.”
The shelter also gave Deanna a shoutout for her patience throughout the process. “Deanna, you are our hero and never once gave up on Barley; through rain, sleet, snow or hail, day after day you fed him knowing one day he’d finally be safe.”
On Monday, Aug. 5, the Suggitts brought Barley home. They know that the process to acclimate him will take a while as well.
"Tomorrow, hopefully he’ll be here, and it’s going to be a long process," Denny said ahead of Barley's arrival. "We’re going to get him home and try to make him realize that he’s a dog and he can have fun and he can play and it’s okay."
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