“Tasha’s Tail”; a journey through three counties

Wandering canine reunited with family

 

IMLAY TWP. — Devastated at the notion of having two of their family dogs come up missing, an Imlay Twp. family never gave up hope and remained vigilant in their search for the lost canines.

Their persistence paid off nearly one year later. While one of their dogs was discovered and brought back home just a few days after it went missing, their female, named Tasha, embarked on an adventure that carried her more than 50 miles.

In reality, Tasha covered closer to 100 miles through three counties, having back tracked and venturing further away. She ended up in Deckerville, in northeast Sanilac County before she was trapped and brought back home.

Her adventures took her through parts of Lapeer, Sanilac and St. Clair counties.

Tasha, a 100 lb. Anatolian Shepherd, had been missing from her home for almost a year.

An army of people, including family, neighbors and friends, as well as an aerial drone service, searched the countryside for Tasha for weeks and months on end with various sightings from time to time.

However, the agile canine had become skittish and did not let anyone near her until late last month.

The dog’s owner, Tammy Janiszewski shared the canine adventure with the Tri-City Times on Monday March 3, saying the family was thrilled when they received word that Tasha had been captured just a few miles from Lake Huron.

“It was quite a journey for her,” Tammy said with a sigh of relief. “I wish she could talk and share her adventure with us. We are thrilled to have her back home with her brother.”

On March 5, 2024 around 11 p.m., Tasha and Janiszewski’s other dog, Batman, had taken off into the darkness of night chasing coyotes. Tammy said the dogs often did the same routine and normally returned. But, not this time.

Batman was found two days later and brought back home by Janiszewski’s son. But there was no sign of Tasha, according to family members.

The dogs had vanished near Bowers and Van Dyke roads in Imlay Township last March. Janiszewski said she had gotten the dogs to protect children at the house from coyotes that are common in the area.

Once she knew the dogs were not returning, Janiszewski made flyers, distributing them up and down Van Dyke from an area north of Imlay City to Clear Lake Road in Burnside Township.

Monitoring social media, Janiszewski learned of sightings of a dog matching Tasha’s description. People reported seeing the wandering canine on field cameras used for hunting, as well.

In recalling the adventure, Janiszewski said, “I think she just kept going and going, probably chasing coyotes. Maybe she was eating food left behind if coyotes took down a deer. It’s hard to know for sure.”

Tasha’s owner said there had been numerous sightings of the dog, but after April 2024 the reports of seeing her stopped.

“She was seen in the area of Martin Lake Road and Van Dyke in Goodland Township, back in the area where Batman was last seen,” Janiszewski said. “She might have been looking for Batman.”

Janiszewski said Tasha had a shock collar on her at the time of her fleeing, but it may have, “fallen off or broke because it wasn’t on her in the pictures we saw on field cameras.”

Janiszewski recalled starting to get reports from people in the Yale area (in St. Clair County), which is 25 miles from our house, of a dog that looked like Tasha,” she said.

The dog’s owner hired Jamie Panduren and his drone business, Aerial Solutions, who began to look for Tasha in areas where there were sightings in the area — including in a corn field near Armstrong Road and Van Dyke. He also had a cage to catch the elusive dog.

“She never stayed in one spot too long,” said Janiszewski. “I thought maybe she found a place to do her job. She’s a protector. She protects people and livestock from coyotes and other danger. The main reason we got Tasha was to keep the kids safe,” said Janiszewski, who said coyotes have previously killed dogs near the family’s home.

On Feb. 11 of this year, Janiszewski said there were sightings of a dog that could be Tasha near Deckerville High School in Sanilac County.

“We started getting more and more calls with reports of other sightings of her in the Deckerville area” Janiszewski recalled. “We piled in the car and took off for Deckerville, hoping to catch her. At one point, we even spoke with the Deckerville police about a plan we had of trying to sedate her with a tranquilizer gun.”

Tasha, a mere eight years old, continued her cross county adventure for a few more days as plans were devised to try to trap her in a large pen. Family members say they were so close to getting her back, “she ran right in front of us, but we couldn’t grab her. She was so skittish,” Janiszewski said.

Panduren took his drone to the Deckerville area and began to track Tasha. She was found in a live trap at a woman’s home near the high school.

The Deckerville woman, Marsha Leathers, was feeding cats from her porch, and the feeding bowls kept going missing.

“It was kind of funny. Marsha couldn’t figure out where her dishes were all going and it was Tasha! She was taking them and hiding them,” Janiszewski chuckled.

Finally, on February 26, after further drone sightings and tips from Deckerville area residents, a plan was set in place to trap Tasha.

She continued to come to Leather’s home for food and began using and getting comfortable going in to an open, live-trap pen.

“We knew she was coming for the food between 8:20 and 9 p.m. every night like clockwork,’ Janiszewski said. “On the night of the 26th, we were all over there in Deckerville and our trapper guy got the door shut on her and we had her!”

Janiszewski said when her father and mother, Joe and Rose, went in the pen with Tasha, the dog’s tail began wagging.

“When we got over there (Deckerville), Tasha jumped right up into the car and was licking my mom’s face off. She knew she was going back home. She looked like she had lost some weight, but otherwise you wouldn’t know what she had been through. She didn’t miss a beat,” said the relieved canine owner.

Once back home in Imlay Twp., it was a happy reunion. “My daughter cried and cried when she saw Tasha. She was so happy. Both of them were,” Janiszewski said. “It was a happy ending to a long story for sure.”

The local family say they can’t say enough thank yous to everyone who helped look for Tasha; the drone and trapper team, as well as all the tips on social media and those who helped in the Deckerville area.

“It was a long adventure, for sure,” Janiszewski said with a smile. “But we never gave up. Our persistence paid off and we are so happy to have her back home.”

Panduren, who owns five drones, said he was happy to help with the missing dog case.

“I’ve done 52 missing dogs, but this one was really unique,” he said. “I put up the drone 12 times. Every time there was a sighting, I drove there and got up in the air to search.”

The Imlay City businessman said he’s also searched for horses, cows and a parrot.