As of Monday afternoon, one animal — a gray tabby female cat — remains missing nearly two weeks after the wreck of the ASPCA truck on Old Fort Mountain. The sixth and final missing dog, a brown pointer named Ausable, was found dead Friday.
Over the weekend, a spokesperson for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) issued an update.
“The animal search and rescue teams continued their search efforts all day (Friday), including setting up four feeding stations and cameras in the most recently active areas and closely monitoring activity,” reads the statement from the ASPCA. “Footage of Ausable was captured on camera near one of the traps yesterday afternoon, but unfortunately, he did not enter the trap. At approximately 10:40 p.m. (Friday) night, the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office received several reports of a dog seen near mile marker 69 on Interstate 40. Evaluating the risks of scaring Ausable into traffic and endangering his life as well as that of staff and other drivers, we decided to closely track reported sightings and resume the search for Ausable at 7 a.m. Sadly, at approximately 9 a.m., our team found Ausable’s body in the grass near the interstate.”
People are also reading…
ASPCA officials said they are heartbroken over this loss and send their deepest condolences to the rescue and foster family caring for Ausable. The search and rescue team has been searching for the seven missing animals every day since the wreck.
At approximately 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, a box truck operated by Ronald Jeffrey Swanson, 54, of Hendersonville, was traveling east on Interstate 40. The truck had a left front tire failure and collided with the median barrier wall and crashed, causing extensive damage to the cab of the vehicle, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
The wreck resulted in the temporary shutdown of both the east-bound and west-bound lanes of I-40 on Old Fort Mountain. Swanson suffered severe injuries and was flown to Mission Hospital in Asheville. A passenger in his van, Shannen Foster, 52 of Hendersonville, received minor injuries.
Swanson was driving a truck owned by the Asheville chapter of the ASPCA. The truck contained approximately 30 dogs and cats in crates that been spayed and neutered in Asheville and were being returned to their owners in Caldwell County and surrounding area.
Twenty-six animals received attention at the scene of the wreck and were taken to their owners. Five animals lost their lives, including two dogs who succumbed to their injuries. Some animal enclosures were damaged in the accident, allowing animals to escape, and six dogs and one cat went missing from the wreck. ASPCA leaders, volunteers and professional animal searchers immediately started looking for the seven missing animals.
“With expert guidance from professional missing pet tracker Epic Animal Recovery, the team is using a range of tactics and equipment, including scent-tracking dogs, scent lures, feeding stations, motion-sensing cameras, and humane traps,” reads the statement from the ASPCA. “We have blanketed a 10-mile area with informational fliers and distributed these widely with the help of local animal social media groups as well as local media.”
Since the wreck, searchers were able to find a pit bull/Labrador retriever mix named Oreo, a Labrador retriever mix named Jack, a miniature dachshund named Tucker, a black-and-white Jack Russell terrier/pit bull mix named Chubbs and a German shepherd/Australian shepherd mix named Freya.
As of Monday, the white and gray tabby female cat named Tabby is still missing. The search continues to find the one remaining missing tabby, working alongside Epic Animal Recovery and Mission Lost Pet Recovery Services, as well as the partners at McDowell County Animal Shelter, according to the ASPCA.
“Our top priority is the safety of our employees and the animals in our care,” reads the statement from ASPCA. “We are devastated by this accident and deeply grateful to everyone in the community for their outpouring of support.”
Tabby is an emotional support animal for a 14-year-old who has autism, according to social media posts.
“Epic, Mission and the ASPCA team is focusing all their efforts on finding Tabby,” reads a Facebook post. “Tabby’s mom was onsite on Saturday and she & Michelle heard Tabby. Traps continue to be set and monitored by cameras. The plan moving forward will be to have a core team working on Tabby’s rescue each day. This will minimize foot traffic and different human scents.”
Meanwhile, friends of Jeff Swanson, the driver, have started a GoFundMe page to assist with him and his wife with mounting medical expenses. As of Monday, $13,100 has been raised out of a $25,000 goal.
For more information, visit the GoFundMe page and search for “Jeff Swanson ASPCA.”