HOOKS, Texas -- An exhaustive 22-day search for a special dog named Norma Jean is over. And Norma Jean made it through the elements and is alive.
The Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff) had surgery Thursday at Dekalb Animal Hospital where she had to have her right front leg amputated. The amputation was necessary because a leash she was wearing when she escaped wore on her leg and made an infection that could not be healed. She also lost 43 pounds while she was roaming away from those searching for her, said Mark Clifford, her owner.
Clifford of Keller, a suburb of Dallas, said he was relieved that she had made it through the surgery and was doing well on Friday.
"I am wanting to get her home naturally but at the same time, not wanting to rush it," he said. "She needs to be eating better before they can release her."
Clifford was on the way home from picking up Norma Jean from a rescue in West Memphis, Arkansas, when he stopped at the Exxon Paradise Quick Stop #13 around 9:30 p.m. on Jan. 2. He was trying to coax her out to see if she wanted to go to the bathroom when the unexpected happened.
"Though she had two leashes on, she scooted right past me. She is a big dog, and she is pretty fast," Clifford said. "My biggest fear in that moment was that I did not want her to run onto Interstate 30 and she did run toward the ramp, and you know I was pretty darn concerned."
Clifford could not see to search for her into the night but became a regular to an area that is technically Victory City but considered to most as Hooks on weekends and staying in Texarkana hotels while he went out to search.
The search included multiple animal rescues, traditional and thermal drones and trapping devices. The Must Love Corsos Rescue where Clifford picked up Norma Jean helped promote the search out by posting on their Facebook page about the need for help and announcing there would be a reward for the person who found her. The Corsos Rescue Facebook page also includes day by day updates about the search and Norma Jean's response to her surgery.
The day after she escaped, Clifford called Greg King of Greg King Canine Recovery of Texarkana.
"I was looking for help and quickly got a hold of Greg King who is like the ultimate jack of trades in Texarkana," Clifford said. "There is probably not anyone who does more for animals in distress than he does. He was available to help me right away with cameras and he set up traps and we had a feeling that often an animal who has no familiarity with the area will be found near where they got away."
And in the end that is what happened.
"She was found a little over a mile from where she escaped from," Clifford said. "She was captured that close and that coincided with her profile. Her foster mom told me she is a homebody, and she will always circle back to what she believes is her home."
During the rescue efforts, dog food, cooked food like bacon and hamburger meat and rags with grease were laid out to attract Norma Jean, but searchers noted the bowls of food were not touched whether they were near the woods or in close by abandoned homes where it appeared she had sought shelter while on the run. About 25 people helped with the rescue of Norma Jean, Clifford said.
On the day she was found, searchers were still hopeful to find Norma Jean alive, but knew that might not be the case since she had been missing so long. But between 1 and 2 p.m. on Jan. 22, Chesney Campbell, 19, was bush hogging property on her father's lease property when she saw something in the grass.
"I honestly had no clue that she had been missing for more than 20 days and I saw her when I was coming around my first loop in the field," Campbell said. "I got out to check to see if she was alive and I called my stepmom. I'm a huge animal lover and it broke my heart to see her just lying there.
"I called my stepmom and she said there was pretty much nothing I could do and just let nature take its course. Then she ended up calling me back about five minutes later and I explained what she looked like, and she told me to stay right there, and she was calling somebody to get to where I was."
King was the person Campbell's stepmom, Della Campbell, called to let know a dog who looked like Norma Jean was found.
"When I saw her, she was maybe like 10 feet from me," Campbell said. "When I first saw her, I saw she was hurt. She was just skin and bones when I found her."
When King arrived with his van, Chesney said she helped him get the dog on a tarp so he could take her to the vet in DeKalb. He handed her a poster.
"I thought he was just giving me a poster to remember her, and I always will remember I saved this dog's life," Campbell said. "I knew nothing of the reward, I just knew she was a dog that needed help. If it were any other dog, I would have felt the same way. I'm glad they have kept me updated on her and she is actually going to survive."
Campbell received $500 of reward money for finding Norma Jean and said she plans to save the money.
King said he was very scared for Norma Jean's life when he arrived at the field Campbell had called from.
"I know who gets the credit, it is God," he said. "That dog was dying on me. It was flipping, flopping, seizing on me and prayer brought that dog back. I told (Campbell) please do not take your eyes off that dog. I said don't take your eyes off the dog and then she said you will see a blue tractor when you turn to the field. She said I know the people who own the property and it's OK."
King said he wants to thank Christina Tutt, rescuer, for helping him get out to the field where Norma Jean was found and for helping him transport her to the vet. He also wants to thank Keith Roadcap of the Texarkana Texas Animal Control for giving him a call about the spotting of the dog.
King said to name everyone who helped in the rescue would be long and he would be afraid he would forget someone. However, Clifford did say the employees at the Paradise Exxon Quick Stop #13 were nothing but helpful.
Misty Stevens Scogins of Hooks along with her friend Brenda Tidwell of Redbank, became involved in the first full daytime search for Norma Jean on Jan. 3. Scogins said when Norma Jean was found, it was emotional for everyone who had been involved in the search.
"I just started balling, it was just such a relief," she said. "It became personal. You think of the dog like it's yours. I did ask if I could give her some loving and Mark said yes."
Tidwell said the Sunday night before Norma Jean was found, she slept in her car to help King keep watch out for the dog. She got up in the early morning to cook bacon and hamburger meat to try to attract her with the aroma.
"Mainly what Misty and I did, we were just watching to make sure she didn't come out of the bushes because she could come out at any time," she said. "We parked on the pipeline road and watched all day long and sat there every day. We checked all the houses around. It was kind of like investigating and I've never done this before. Most mornings we would start out driving around eight and stay out sometimes until three in the afternoon."
Tidwell, an animal lover herself with four dogs and enough cats to keep her food bill high, stressed that this experience made her realize just how much animal rescues need donations to keep them afloat. She said they struggle to make it and what they are doing is for the best of animals.
Clifford said he will never forget when he heard she had been found on Monday with other rescuers who had been doing their part in the search.
"She was found, and she was in a bad state and I myself and many of us cried our eyes out. We cried pretty hard for several moments," he said. "I am very happy and relieved she was found. It was a double-edged sword if you know what I mean."
Besides eventually taking Norma Jean home, Clifford will also be taking a newfound appreciation for a small town in East Texas called Hooks, and the towns surrounding it.
"You know I live in the Dallas suburbs, and I really am more acutely aware of the difficulties people out there face and despite that they have a tremendous heart," he said. "The biggest thing I think you can give is your time. There is just no way this dog would have been found without the support of the people out there."
Meet Norma Jean, lost for more than three weeks near Hooks, Texas, but now found. (Submitted photo)