A hero in her eyes

FORT MADISON – He disqualifies himself as a hero, but the brown eyes that looked up to Sean Brown Wednesday at PAW Animal shelter told a different story.
A nine-year-old tan and white beagle mix tucked herself around the feet of Brown, a veteran employee at the P.A.W. no-kill animal shelter in Fort Madison.
Vixie, the beagle who had her tail tucked as she sat on the floor next to Brown was in the safe confines of the no-kill shelter for the first time in more than 10 months.
The dog had escaped from its adopted home for no reason other than a loud train horn and too-loose collar. From there she ran, and ran, and ran, until earlier this week when Brown staked out a home that had reported seeing her and, after several attempts to catch up to the animal, made one final stakeout of a home where barriers had been put up to channel Vixie to a food bowl.
Other attempts had been derailed by shouting neighbors or insecure barriers. Live traps didn’t work as the skiddish beagle was too smart for the tech.
This last time, with a phone call to the owner of a home who had posted pictures of the dog on social media, food was put out at the right time. Brown waited in the dark and Vixie came up for a meal and was reunited with a man who had been passionately hunting for her for the full 10 months.
Vixie had been adopted to a Fort Madison man with a home near the tracks and, on a walk, she wriggled free of her collar when a train came by and had to signal at a crossing. The wailing scared the dog and she was off.
“Last week a lady posted online about a beagle in her yard. I kept my expectations down, but I was pretty hopeful it was Vixie,” Brown said.
“Then it was just go to the house at 8:15 p.m. and sit and watch and try to learn her routine and how she came in. Some nights she’d show up at 9 o’clock and some nights it would be 10 and it was just build a plan to get her caught.”
He said they had a good routine of her just walking down the driveway at the home and he had a plan, and one night the neighbors were out and a gentleman noticed her and hollered at her, throwing her out of her routine.
Brown said Vixie then created a new pattern for getting to the food and he had to set up a new plan.
“We just fenced off the back so she had to come in the front and this wonderful lady worked with us very well and enabled us to catch her.”
The dog is known for getting out on her own. She had been originally adopted to a home in Burlington and escaped there and was gone for six months before the shelter was alerted that she had been seen.

Des Moines County’s shelter called PAW and said they had the dog and it was returned. About three weeks later, Vixie was again adopted to the man in Fort Madison.
Sandy Brown, the Director at PAW, said for the first two weeks she was reported missing, they had seen her around the area.
“We kinda knew where she was and then she would disappear and be gone for a couple weeks and someone would spot her,” Brown said.
“Really, up until this lady called and posted the picture, we hadn’t seen her for about four months. Sean saw the picture and came up asking, “Is this her?! Is this her?!”
Brown said the lady who called feeds feral cats and Vixie had been helping herself to some of the food. She said Sean and the woman worked together to get Vixie back in a safe environment.
“She was awesome. She helped us every step of the way,” Sean Brown said.
Sean Brown said Vixie was in surprisingly good shape when she was caught.
“She’s been eating cat food, and her weight is pretty good. She had a few ticks that we took care of but, for almost 11 months of being on her own, she’s in pretty good shape,” he said. “We’ll have to get her rabies vaccination caught up.”
Brown said he has grown attached to the dog, but is more of a big dog guy. He said he considers all the dogs at the facility part of his family, until they are part of another family. And sometimes…even after that.
The man who adopted Vixie locally was also helpful at getting her back and didn’t just write her off.
“It was hard on him. It wasn’t like she got lost and he just forgot about her. He had been on the lookout for her, too, and it was a big relief that she has been caught,” Brown said.
“Our talks with him were that he thinks she needs a better setting with a more shored-up fence. Our plan for her is someone with a good fenced-in yard and an understanding she will need some extra time to bond. But when she bonds with that person, she will stay because she knows its safe.
“I’m just so relieved she’s safe and sound. I don’t know about a hero by any means. It’s just, these dogs are family.”