Marc and Monica Eaton had just started their Hawaii vacation when they received a call that their dog Tucker had run away.
Tucker is a Blue Heeler/Australian cattle dog that the Eatons think is about 10 years old. They rescued him nine years ago. Marc Eaton said Tucker started his life in inhumane conditions and he still carries trauma with him.
The Eatons live in Buena Vista and have lived in the Arkansas River Valley for nearly two decades. The Eatons left for Hawaii on March 5, leaving Tucker with Marc Eaton’s parents. On March 9, Marc Eaton’s parents dropped Tucker off at a friend of the Eatons’, Maddie Short, in Leadville. During the handoff between dog sitters, Tucker ran away.
Short quickly alerted Marc and Monica Eaton and the search began. The couple left their Hawaii trip early and flew home. Short found Summit Lost Pet Rescue on the internet and they joined the search on March 10.
Summit Lost Pet Rescue is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization that primarily helps pet owners in Summit County find their lost pets, but also has a Leadville-based team. Summit Lost Pet Rescue was founded in March 2020 by Melissa Davis and Brandon Ciullo. Since 2020, the organization has helped successfully reunite 807 lost pets with their owners. There are currently around 50 volunteers between the two counties.
Amber Johnson is a member of the Summit Lost Pet Rescue Leadville team. She said that when the team is alerted about a lost pet or contacted by the pet’s owner, volunteers will give whatever time they can to hang fliers and neon signs, post on social media and search on foot.
On March 12, the search team which consisted of the Eatons, Short, Abbey Hickey and several Summit Lost Pet Rescue volunteers began hanging out fliers for Tucker. That night, he was spotted on the west side of town. Marc Eaton, Hickey, Johnson and Sarah Cole, another volunteer, searched the area.
The first thing the search party did was set up scent stations. Cole said that scent stations can be anything from the pet’s bed to their owners’ dirty clothes, anything with a strong and familiar smell that might attract the animal.
Just when the team was about to give up, Tucker was seen behind Lake County Intermediate School. Marc Eaton drove over and got out but as he approached Tucker, Tucker bolted. They spotted him again behind Lake County High School. Again, Marc Eaton slowly walked over but Tucker ran again.
Johnson said that when a pet is lost, it’s normal for them to run away from people, even their owners.
“We love our dogs and they love us, but when they’re in survival mode, they don’t always see us. Sometimes they see threats,” Johnson said.
After Tucker ran away, the team set a live trap near the schools along with cameras. Unfortunately, Tucker was never seen again in that spot.
Throughout the next week and a half the team continued to hand out fliers and walk the town. Over the weekend, Monica Eaton walked all over town searching and spreading the word. Marc Eaton said that they received numerous calls about sightings and ran into many people around town that said they were keeping an eye out for Tucker. He was sighted around Evergreen Cemetery, Community Field, East 11th Street and the rodeo grounds.
On Friday, March 22, after nearly two weeks of searching, the Eatons received a tip that Tucker had been sighted southwest of town near the Stringtown smelter area. Hickey and two volunteers arrived at the area to secure the perimeter while Marc Eaton drove up from Buena Vista.
When Marc Eaton arrived he saw bloody tracks in the snow. He followed the tracks into an old cabin near the smelter where he finally found his dog. This time, Tucker came right to him.
After 13 days on his own in Leadville, Tucker finally returned home. Johnson said that he was probably scared but that blue heelers are both athletic and resilient and he found a way to make it. Cole said that his survival instincts and adrenaline probably sustained him for the first ten days or so without food but that he was probably beginning to hurt.
Marc Eaton said that Tucker slept for a couple days after being rescued and since then has been very clingy to his family. Tucker was taken to the vet and slowly reintroduced to food. Marc Eaton said that even weeks after Tucker was found, people were calling to ask about him.
“The thing Monica and I talked about was how awesome the community of Leadville was and the Summit Lost Pet Rescue,” Marc Eaton said. “The only reason we found him was people’s generosity with their time.”
Johnson said that she was impressed with how dedicated the Eatons were to finding their dog.
“I’ve never seen owners as involved as they were,” Johnson said. “They rallied their family to help, they came up here and stayed in an AirBnb and they were crucial in finding Tucker.”
Anyone who is missing a pet in either Summit County or the Leadville area can contact Summit Lost Pet Rescue and fill out their waiver or contact their local animal control or animal shelter. Anyone interested in volunteering can visit the Summit Lost Pet Rescue website at lostpetrescue.org or call 970-423-5701 to learn more.
