- Carry on, my wayward dog; there’ll be peace when you are done.
If popular media has shown us anything, it’s that everybody loves a rebel who roams wherever the road might take him. Recent events in New Orleans, however, have shown that the heartthrob rebel doesn’t need to be a human.
A dog can fill the role too — a dog like Scrim.
This mutt of unknown origin has been running around the Big Easy for months. He has been caught and homed several times, but it seems Scrim is born to be wild.
Despite finding good, loving homes, Scrim has inevitably escaped every time. During his most recent escape, he leaped out of a second-story window to chase the sweet call of the streets.
However, his escapee tendencies haven’t deterred Zeus Rescues, a non-profit animal rescue organization. The rescue’s owners and volunteers are hell-bent on getting Scrim off the streets before their dangers claim his life.
Yet, even net guns and tranquilizer darts haven’t helped them catch the elusive mutt. As such, some locals have started calling for Scrim to be allowed to be free and wild.
A Dog as Tough as Nails
Overall, Scrim is a mystery. Nobody knows where the dog came from, how he ended up on the streets, or even what he is.
All we know is that he is a scruffy white mixed-breed pooch who weighs around 15 to 17 pounds. That, and that life hasn’t exactly been easy on him.
Scrim first came to public knowledge after Michelle Cheramie, the founder and owner of Zeus Rescues, spotted him at a Louisiana dog pound. The battered little dog was in danger of getting euthanized, so Cheramie took him along.
And Scrim sure was battered. Outside of various bruises and scratches that healed over time, Scrim is missing a good chunk out of his one ear.
Yet, he also carries proof of an attempt on his life. In an X-ray, vets discovered that there were two small bullets inside Scrim.
The size of the projectiles implies that Scrim was shot with a pellet gun or a small-caliber rifle. However, we don’t know for sure as the vets left the bullets in there — removing them would’ve been a bigger risk.
A Little Runaway
After Cheramie rescued Scrim from the dog pound, she took him to New Orleans and started looking for a family to adopt him. Eventually, she found a home for the dog.
However, a sedentary life didn’t seem to suit Scrim. Soon enough, he escaped from his new owners and returned to the streets.
That’s when his fame began to grow. He became something of a social media star, with people sharing sightings of the white-furred mutt to guide rescuers’ attempts to catch him.
After several weeks, Cheramie finally caught her metaphorical Road Runner. After being tipped off about Scrim’s location once again, she grabbed her tranquilizer gun and went after him.
This time, she drew faster than Scrim could run.
#FreeScrim
So, with Scrim caught once again, Cheramie began another search for someone to adopt him. Meanwhile, he housed Scrim in her own home.
This time, it seemed he had given up on escaping. The pooch would sit on Cheramie’s lap and take doggie naps beside her pet.
However, that wasn’t to last. While Cheramie was out one day, Scrim (possibly spooked by her cats) chewed through a second-story window’s bug screen — and jumped out.
The dog clearly knows how to land on his feet, though. Falling 13 feet, Scrim made a safe landing and squeezed a tiny gap in Cheramie’s fence before heading out into the unknown.
He was wearing a GPS collar at the time of his escape. Unfortunately, its battery died before Cheramie could catch the dog.
Now, we’re back to square one. Scrim is out there, and Cheramie’s team is after him, armed with state-of-the-art pet-catching equipment from tranq darts to net bazookas.
They’re again getting hints of Scrim’s whereabouts through social media and have made many almost-successful attempts to snare him. Yet, the sly dog keeps eluding his would-be captors.
Due to his escape artistry, some New Orleans locals have started calling for Zeus Rescues to call off the chase. Scrim obviously wants to be a free dog, so why not let him stay that way?
According to the rescue organization, however, that would be a death sentence for Scrim (as evidenced by his earlier injuries). However, they have admitted that, once caught, Scrim should probably be homed at a farm or animal sanctuary where he has ample space for indulging his wanderlust.
Meanwhile, the game of cat and mouse — or dog and rescuer — carries on.