Saga of dog named River by Ryn Gargulinski

No one is sure how long the dog has been living in the Rillito riverbed.

Nor does anyone know where she came from or how she’s surviving the coyotes and cold.
What a bunch of folks do know is they want to help her.
The dog, dubbed River, has been the focus of a group of animal-loving volunteers for some time now.
The folks have posted signs asking people to immediately report sightings of the dog. They have also been in and around the riverbed, constructing a little dog shelter and leaving water and foodstuff like Vienna sausages.
Sawyer and Phoebe tried to eat the sausages.
We saw the signs a couple months back. We see the volunteers pretty much daily. And we finally saw the dog this week.
Unlike what you would expect from a dog that’s been living her life in a dusty riverbed, River appeared hearty and healthy. Must be all those Vienna sausages.
As you would expect, however, River also appeared very wary.
That’s probably why it’s taking so long to catch her. Traps have been set that intend to catch her alive and bring her to a cozy home. She’s apparently not biting.


Volunteers are also regularly on the scene to monitor her movement and progress – but none have gotten close enough for capture.
River does have a collar, indicating she may have once had a happy home. We can only speculate on what happened to that home or why no owner has come forward looking for the lost dog.
Regular updates on River the river dog appear on Craigslist.com, with the most recent entry dated Jan. 5. It thanks everyone who has been helping and lets folks know River is A-OK. An earlier entry also noted that some other dogs who frequent the riverbed have been trying to eat River’s food. Shame on them.
Of course the post also mentions that River is still living out in the riverbed.
Anyone who wants to help with the quest for River can search “River” in the Tucson pet section of Craigslist.com for info on how they can volunteer.
Even if you cannot help rescue River, another post notes there are many ways to help Tucson’s homeless pets.
“Let us all send out good happy thoughts for all these dumped, abused and abandoned pets out there…. Please, in honor of all the ones lost and all the ones saved and all the ones still out there, do something today…. Foster, adopt, join a patch group (that helps animals), donate, walk a dog at PACC! There is so much you can do, to make a difference in their lives! And for those who already do, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

http://tucsoncitizen.com/sawyer/2010/01/07/the-saga-of-a-dog-named-river/