Keep an Eye Out for Macie Lost in West Hartford

At 30 pounds, Macie, the beagle/dachshund mix that went missing from the Pilgrim Road/Albany Avenue area on Saturday, isn’t the typical dog that Big Fluffy Dog Rescue takes in.

“She’s not a St. Bernard or a Great Pyrenees,” said Jean Harrison, who runs Big Fluffy Dog Rescue in Tennessee, in a telephone interview. “She’s a hamster by our standards.”

But Harrison said that Macie, who is somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 to 8 years old, is “extremely sweet” and part of a heartbreaking and extreme hoarding case in Macon County, Tenn. that eventually led her to a West Hartford foster home via Big Fluffy Dog Rescue.

In just a matter of three hours with her West Hartford foster family, Macie pulled a feat that even Houdini would be proud of by opening a sliding door, jumping a screen and deck, climbing a 5-foot fence to escape.

All with an arthritic condition in her back hips that requires her to receive medication, Harrison said.

“We’re all mystified by how she scaled a fence,” Harrison said. “But frightened dogs are capable of incredible feats of escape.”

So far, 20 to 30 people are assisting in looking for the dog, whom Harrison - who took in Macie for several weeks - describes as a “very sweet girl.”

“She’s very fond of barbeque; she’s no risk to any person or animal,” Harrison said. “She’s great with dogs, cats or people. But you have to let her approach you until she is comfortable with you.”

Harrison said that Macie is unsure of her environment and is not sure of where she is.

“It’s all scary,” Harrison said. “She’s not acclimated to where she was.”

Macie is a copper red color with black mixed in and has mostly black ears; she is wearing tags for dog rescue. The concern is that Macie takes medication and the longer she is off it, the worse her condition can get.

Anyone who spots Macie should not approach her, but is encouraged to contact elizabeth@bigfluffydogs.com or call Genevieve at 860-614-3043.