Raider the dog, lost after sanctuary shutdown, finds way to temporary home

Feb. 23—The beloved, elusive stray dog Raider, who frequented Decatur's Albany Historic District until he was taken to a sanctuary in Colorado, found his way this month to a residence 50 to 60 miles away after authorities shut the sanctuary down.

The sanctuary owner hopes to take him to another planned dog sanctuary in Montana, although catching him has never been easy.

Jenny Parker, who lives on Sherman Street in Decatur, and many others in the Delano Park area, in 2019 noticed a large, gray wolf and Siberian husky mixed dog hanging around. Parker named him Raider after looking up at the "Go Raiders" insignia painted on the water tower at Delano, but he also was christened with at least eight other names by residents in the area.

Parker and some of her neighbors wanted to find Raider a home and worked with Decatur Animal Services twice to get him sedated because he would not come close enough for anyone to touch him. The second attempt, with a tranquilizer dart gun in November 2022, succeeded.

"I picked him up, ... took him to the vet, had him completely vetted, tested, neutered, three-year rabies shot, one-year heartworm shot," Parker said at the time. The vet said Raider was 4 or 5 years old. A breed test revealed he is 26% gray wolf, 22% Siberian husky, 20% Alaskan malamute and three other large breeds.

Raider moved in with Parker but was still elusive. The dog would sleep on the floor of her bedroom and play with dog toys but remained hidden most of the time. Parker did not believe skittish Raider could ever be adopted and become a pet. After five months, she decided to drive him to Just 4 Jacks Ranch & Sanctuary in Lyons, Colorado.

The sanctuary, founded, owned and operated by Drew Renkewitz, was a northern breed rescue facility and was created as a nonprofit sanctuary in November 2021. Renkewitz renamed Raider as Maverick and said he fit in perfectly with his other 79 rescued dogs. The sanctuary was an open space connected to his home where the dogs could roam in the house or within the 10 acres, which were fenced in.

Renkewitz this week said Maverick was a part of the pack and became best friends with another dog at the sanctuary. He said he had made himself at home.

"There was some times I'd walk through my house, he's on my bed," Renkewitz said. "Or I'd walk into the house, he's sitting by the fire."

Renkewitz referred some questions to Parker.

Renkewitz was going to purchase the property in Colorado that he had made into a sanctuary, Parker said. She said the Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA), which is administered by the Colorado Department of Agriculture, stepped in.

"PACFA got involved and wanted to do an inspection and said we want all the dogs to be kenneled, especially the wolves. (Renkewitz) said, 'I'm not going to do that, so I'm not going to buy this property,'" according to Parker. "When he said he wasn't going to buy the property, the landowner sent him an eviction notice."

Parker said things escalated from there. Authorities seized the dogs on Jan. 31 but left behind the three they could not catch. Maverick, formerly Raider, was one of them.

"Finally, he got out of there and roamed probably 50, 60 miles total," Parker said.

About 12 days after escaping the sanctuary, Maverick arrived at a home where he has been for the almost two weeks since.

The homeowners had been following the sanctuary's story on social media and they took a photo of Maverick.

"They sent back photographic evidence, and it was him," Parker said. "(Renkewitz) went out there and saw it was him and of course he still won't come to you. So, he took one of his other dogs out there to play with him and kind of let him know who he was, still trying to capture him."

Parker said Maverick is in a very rural area and from the photos she has seen he looks fabulous.

"He's with a family there that has dogs and they're very active. They go hiking and riding ATVs and snowmobiles and stuff. He follows them around; he sleeps on their porch at night. They feed him," she said. "So, if this is where it ends, I think it would be OK. I just don't know if they're OK to feed a 100-pound dog for the rest of its life that they can't touch."

Renkewitz said with everything going on with PACFA, the homeowners where Maverick has been staying wish to remain anonymous. He said he is fearful authorities will try to seize Maverick like they did with the other sanctuary dogs.

"The issue we would have is, they reached out to me directly letting me know that they had Maverick," he said. "We don't want the humane society or anybody else being in tune. We can't put out names or any of that."

Renkewitz said he is in the process of purchasing a house with 20 acres in Kila, Montana, which has no restrictions on dog sanctuaries. He said he is planning to try to tranquilize Maverick with a dart gun to get him moved to the new sanctuary soon.

"If (Renkewitz) can get him and take him back, I think he really loves being a part of the pack," Parker said. "He doesn't try to be the leader or the top dog. He just wants to fit in and have some companions, and I think he had that where he was. That's probably why he's hanging out where he is now."

Of the 80 dogs he had, Renkewitz said he has gotten 31 back, he knows where 20 are and is attempting to get them back, but there are still 29 that he can't locate. The dogs were taken to humane societies and animal shelters in Colorado and surrounding states, he said.

"He can rehome a few of those dogs, but most of those dogs, it's their last chance," Parker said. "Most of them are out there because they're kind of feral, or they're in need medically. They're not out there because they were such a great pet."

Renkewitz said some of his dogs were at his sanctuary for another reason.

"Most of the time we got the ones that had no other place to go because they were supposed to be euthanized," he said. "Then there were other dogs that came in that, like Maverick, were feral. ... They all came in and they all bonded and they slept on my bed.

"So much for being feral."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.