CACHE COUNTY, Utah — The search continues for the mother of Great Pyrenees puppies rescued off the top of a mountain in northern Utah.
“We’ve seen lots of paw prints so we know she’s around here,” Kathryn MacLoed said near Hardware Ranch on Tuesday.
For 11 straight days, MacLoed and Shelly Rovira have driven three hours round trip to check two traps.
“We wanted to cover it and make it look like a den, more like a den, more natural-looking,” Rovira said.
The women even camped overnight twice.
"Some very long, cold scary nights," Rovira said. "But it is worth it."
“She has no other advocate," MacLoed said. "If it is not us, there is nobody else who is going to help her."
They’ve named the dog Grace.
“It will be by the grace of God that we try and find her. That’s why we named her Grace,” MacLoed said.
Last month, Grace and her three puppies were spotted by snowmobilers on Monte Cristo. The puppies are all adopted now, living with their new families.
Grace, however, still roams the mountain, too scared to get close to people.
“She has a collar on that is really tight. We are really worried about her. How she’s going to survive with that collar so tight? It’s so cold here,” MacLoed said.
Once spotted with two males, Grace is back on her own.
“Its hard. Some days are hard," Rovira said. "Because we come up here and there is nothing in the traps and there is no sign and we will walk for miles and miles and look."
Investigators believe the dogs protected a flock of sheep, and for whatever reason, weren’t taken off the mountain with the sheep in the fall.
Grace’s owner remains a mystery.
“I feel like every day we learn something different," Rovira said. "We will find her. It just might take a minute."
The women set up a Facebook page looking for tips and to keep people up-to-date with the search.
