It took a village to bring Popcorn home after 12-year-old terrier escaped her Ridgefield owners

RIDGEFIELD – It took only a moment for Popcorn, Jo Ann Schaadt’s 12-year-old terrier-mix dog, to slip out of her collar. Just as quickly, Popcorn’s great escape was on.

For the next three days, the small, white dog would lead dozens of rescuers – including Ridgefield police, city staff, residents, church volunteers, a few farmers, at least one city council member, and staff from the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Port of Ridgefield – on a merry chase.

“There’s no way I would have ever gotten my dog back on my own,” Schaadt said. “It was such a communitywide effort – so much kindness, so much goodness, so many people helping and encouraging.”

Schaadt said it was the support of the community that kept her going. She spent countless hours driving and walking around Ridgefield, following up on every lead and sighting.

“People were calling me just ‘round the clock, leaving really kind messages saying, ‘We’re looking for her, don’t give up, she’s going to be found,’” she said.

Popcorn’s perils began on a Saturday evening in late April. Schaadt had been out of town and asked some friends to pick up her dog from Camp Bow Wow, a doggy day care, boarding and grooming business in Ridgefield. After retrieving Popcorn, they headed back to their car when Popcorn suddenly made a dash for freedom.

Schaadt, who serves as pastor at Ridgefield United Methodist Church, doesn’t blame her friends. She said she knows how quickly and easily some dogs, like hers, can escape.

“They were just caught off guard, and they were absolutely devastated,” she said. “I came into church going, ‘No worries. We’re going to find a miracle. We’re going to do this.’”

Schaadt quickly reached out to friends to spread the word of Popcorn’s escape, including Ridgefield Public Works Director Chuck Green and his wife, Linda, who attend the same church. The couple turned to social media to get others involved.

“I figured my skills are more in social media and things like that, so I spent most of the next day putting things online and joining rescue groups and getting the message out to help find Popcorn,” Linda Green said.

Soon, she and other church members were handing out flyers, even while driving around looking for the dog.

Sightings were plentiful, so the Greens began posting updates on Facebook, Reddit and other sites. According to one post, Councilor Lee Wells got involved on that Sunday after Popcorn was sighted near his home. He then reached out to farmers in the area, asking them to keep an eye out. Some farmers tried using their own dogs to track the missing Popcorn. Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife staff were the first to send up a drone but had no luck. A couple of neighbors also tried using drones.

Plenty of others joined in, too, Schaadt said, including Dan and Jamie Campbell, the owners of Camp Bow Wow.

“They were just so gracious that Dan was literally in his truck night and day for three days looking for her,” Schaadt said.

Jamie Campbell said it wasn’t just she and her husband looking for Popcorn.

“We all came together. It was amazing,” she said. “That very night, when (Schaadt) called us to tell us what had happened, the whole staff that was here went out and started looking for her.”

Jamie Campbell said word of Popcorn’s escape spread like wildfire.

“Even all the businesses across from us heard about it, and they were all looking behind them and going through the trails and the fields behind their buildings looking for her,” she said. “I had employees that used to work here that saw (the Facebook post) and came in and went out and looked for her. And they’re not even employees here anymore.”

When it comes to finding a missing pet, Jamie Campbell said, Schaadt did the most important thing: getting the word out.

By that Monday, Popcorn had been spotted in a farmer’s field, near Parr Lumber and the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife office on South 11th Street, near Costco and by the Chevron gas station on Pioneer Street. Then, Popcorn made it across Interstate 5 and was spotted by the Tractor Supply store and the Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue station. No one is certain how she made it across the busy freeway, but by later Monday, she was seen running west of I-5 again.

“(Linda Green) had every imaginable agency identified and notified. We shared on Facebook probably 10 different ways,” Schaadt said. “Chuck’s favorite part is that people keep complaining about driving the roundabouts. He said, ‘Well, Popcorn figured it out.’”

Linda Green said Popcorn was definitely the talk of the town.

“Part of it is Popcorn is so darn cute. And it was fabulous to be part of something that felt so good. I mean, we were also worried, but by the time it all came together, it was so wonderful to have people work together for the common good without bickering or finger pointing,” she said. “I do think there’s a lot of pride in Ridgefield, and they do feel a sense of community.”

‘I felt compelled to go’

Amanda Franco lives in La Center. She didn’t know Schaadt or the Greens, but when she saw the posts on Facebook, she said she knew she had to help.

“I have a huge heart for animals, and anytime I see animals going missing on Facebook or any other platform, I feel this urge to help,” Franco said. “I saw that (Popcorn) had been missing for three days already, and I felt compelled to go.”

Franco joined the search on the Tuesday after Popcorn’s escape – her final day on the lam. This wasn’t the first time Franco had helped look for a missing pet, but it was the first time she’d seen so many people help out.

“I’ve been out looking for pets before, and I’ve usually been by myself,” she said. “This is the first time that I showed up thinking I would be alone, and there were people on the side of the road already looking for her.”

When a call came in reporting that Popcorn had been spotted near Chevron, Schaadt, Linda Green and another searcher jumped into Franco’s car and raced to the gas station, then to a nearby wooded area, next to Costco, then to Tractor Supply before finally tracking her to Aloha Natural Pet Supply on the east side of I-5.

“Popcorn ran in the loading door of Aloha feed, which is quite a way from Tractor Supply,” Schaadt said. “She had bolted in the door, and Amanda just left her car and ran in and shouted, ‘Close the door!’ I mean, she’s a crazy woman by this point, but we were all insane. She shouted to the employees ‘It’s a lost dog. Please get her.’”

Schaadt said Popcorn dashed between the employees, was caught, got loose again and made another attempt at escape before Franco finally caught her.

Once she was back on a leash, Popcorn was taken to an emergency vet for a full exam.

“The amazing thing is the vet couldn’t find anything wrong with her,” Schaadt said.

Despite spending three nights and three days out in the wilds of Ridgefield, Popcorn was relatively unscathed. She came away from her adventures with a lot of ticks, some scrapes on her paws and mild dehydration.

“She’s a great little dog,” Jamie Campbell said. “Everybody was worried about a hawk getting her or the coyotes. I wasn’t worried about that, because Popcorn’s tough.”

While Schaadt is happy to have her dog home, she said there was a bigger takeaway from Popcorn’s escapades: the importance of community.

“It was amazing, especially right now, where we so often feel very divided and disconnected from each other, to see this many people say, ‘You know what, this is more important. Let’s all turn out,’” she said. “I came back to my church on Sunday after we got her, and I just said I’m done fighting about all of these ridiculous things. That’s just enough. There’s just so much goodness out there.”