Yuma officials nab elusive dog after 5 years on lam

Living out in the park, sleeping in a burrow and being fed by neighbors is the life that Princess Smucker will now leave behind.

This female pit bull-mix lived in Smucker Park and its surrounding areas and had escaped Humane Society of Yuma animal control officers despite numerous attempts.

That was until Wednesday morning when an officer finally captured her after finding the stray dog sleeping under a tree in the park, ending a five-year game of cat and mouse.

In past years, area neighbors called the humane society requesting the removal of this stray on various occasions, said David Williams, the officer who caught her. All attempts to apprehend her were unsuccessful even with three officers chasing her at the same time on vehicles and by foot, said Williams.

Dubbed Princess Smucker, park neighbors called her Princess so the humane society built on the nickname, this fast-running dog was able to elude the officers because she knew the territory and the terrain, said Williams.

"That's her domain. She's a really smart dog," said Williams.

Princess knew ways to escape through fences and where to run in the areas around the park and the nearby canal, he said.

She created a burrow in a mulch pit behind the park where she and her puppy litters lived, said Elkie Wills, community relations manager for the Humane Society of Yuma.

It wasn't until a month-and-a-half ago that the officers at the Humane Society began to actively pursue Princess Smucker, said Williams.

They set out a live trap with food but the pit bull did not go because she was already being fed by a woman living in the area, said Wills.

On Wednesday morning, Williams drove by the park to check the trap and saw an opportunity to capture the dog. Princess

Smucker was sleeping under a Ficus tree facing away from him, he said.

When he looked closely, "I noticed she was dreaming," because she was twitching her legs, moving her paws, which meant she was in a deep sleep, Williams said.

He took off his keys to keep them from jiggling and his cell phone, so he wouldn't make any noise.

Williams took a noose and held it up to her nose. As Princess Smucker awoke she put her head through the loop and Williams tightened.

"She went crazy," said Williams.

She put up resistance, a natural reaction after being free for a long time, but never tried to bite or attack Williams.

She would just "pull away from me" and bite the stick as she felt threatened, Williams said.

"I've never seen her show any signs of aggression," said Williams.

The canine is now being kept at the kennels at the Humane Society to give her time to acclimate to the situation, said Wills.

Princess Smucker will be vaccinated, spayed and the staff at the Humane Society will work to find a proper family to adopt her, said Wills.

People interested in adopting her will be interviewed and should be patient and knowledgeable about dogs in order to meet the special needs that a dog like this one has, she said.

Stray dogs are wild animals that need a lot more maintenance and training, she said.

With Princess Smucker in a proper home, the public will be safe as she is not roaming the park and will prevent any risk of developing any aggressions toward people.

Princess will also be safe from being at risk of being run over by a car, getting in fights with other dogs or meeting "not so nice humans" that might hurt her, said Wills.

"Everybody was happy we finally caught her. She's finally out of that position. To me she was in a bad situation," said Williams.