“[Y]ou can tell it’s been floating for a while …”
For nearly six months, Amy English tried to rescue a clever stray dog named Sadie. Each time, Sadie slipped away.
But when freezing weather threatened Sadie’s newborn puppies, everything changed.
A Hidden Litter In A Fenced Yard
English, a board member and volunteer with Duck Team 6, had been tracking Sadie’s movements with trail cameras. She knew the wary mama dog was hiding puppies in a fenced backyard — she just couldn’t figure out how Sadie was getting inside.
After a week of monitoring, the footage revealed the answer: Sadie climbed a fallen tree and launched herself over the fence to reach her babies.
With an ice storm in the forecast, English feared the puppies wouldn’t survive the night.
Working with another volunteer and the homeowner, she located Sadie nursing eight tiny puppies beneath a trailer. Sadie allowed them to gently remove the puppies — but when rescuers tried to secure her with a slip lead, she bolted.
It was a familiar pattern.
The Dog Who Outsmarted Every Trap
English first learned about Sadie in August 2025 after rescuing her previous litter from an industrial area. Sadie and two other strays were surviving under semitrucks and dumpsters.
Once a foster was lined up, English began conditioning Sadie to humane traps with food. When Sadie finally entered one, rescuers thought they had succeeded.
Instead, Sadie pulled on a cord connected to a monitoring camera, bent the trap just enough — and escaped.
“She really punked us,” English said. “Like, how did you just do this, you little Houdini?”
Another time, Sadie led rescuers deep into a storm drain. They tried a larger, reinforced “Missy trap” designed for especially smart, skittish dogs. High-value treat trails didn’t work either.
Sadie always stayed one step ahead.
Puppies Become The Turning Point
When Sadie delivered her second litter in January, urgency intensified. Newborn puppies exposed to winter conditions face serious risks.
Rescuers secured the puppies just hours before the ice storm hit and rushed them to fosters for bottle-feeding.
In one last attempt to lure Sadie, English placed her phone inside the Missy trap and played recordings of puppy cries.
Sadie grabbed the phone, ran off — and buried it.
Even so, rescuers persisted.
Four days later, volunteers successfully captured Sadie inside the reinforced trap. When she tried climbing out, a zip-tied soccer net prevented her escape. Once safely crated, English secured the door with carabiners for extra security.
That night, Sadie arrived at her foster home.
A Family Reunited
The next morning, Sadie reunited with her puppies — now safe and warm.
English chose not to attend the reunion.
“It was probably best I wasn’t there,” she joked. “Since I’m like Cruella de Vil to her … I’ve taken all of her puppies, captured her twice.”
The entire family is now in the care of Marleigh’s Friends Rescue.
Over the past few weeks, they’ve been cuddling, eating and exploring indoor life. The puppies — now about 6 weeks old — have begun receiving medical care and will be vaccinated and spayed or neutered before adoption.
As for Sadie, she’s adjusting slowly. Trust doesn’t come easily after a life on the streets.
But English has no doubt about one thing.
“She’s brilliant,” she said. “I swear she’s a mastermind.”
After months of near misses and daring escapes, the savvy street dog is finally safe — and this time, she’s staying.