Several Dogs Have Mysteriously Vanished in Dubuque, Jackson Counties

A concerning trend has been occurring in the Tri-States as of late, and it's impacting not only families but their most vulnerable members. For weeks, there has been a small but notable epidemic of dogs mysteriously going missing. Several people have seen multiple or all of their dogs vanish without a trace.

This has been an ongoing issue in Dubuque and Jackson Counties, specifically rural enclaves of these regions, where dogs tend to roam around their owners' properties. The Telegraph Herald and the Maquoketa Sentinel-Press have both run separate stories on the matter this month, and even with that, several individuals on Facebook are still reporting their dogs have been going missing.

Consider Pam Wagner of Maquoketa, IA, whose dogs have been baited several times right from her driveway, or even from across the road:

There's also Stacey Kay, who posted about her three dogs going missing on Eden Valley Road near Lost Nation earlier in the month of March. On a comforting note, her dogs were returned:

These aren't the only stories, and surely I cannot possibly cover each individual one. That said, this is a slowly growing epidemic problem in our region that I've felt compelled to address ever since a coworker brought it to my attention.

The Maquoketa Sentinel-Press told the story of Chad Ihrig, whose dog Bailey went missing back in December. Ihrig's Monmouth property consists of a large farmhouse with a substantial barn and a bunch of separate buildings. It was a big enough that Bailey, a 160-pound Great Pyrenees-Newfoundland mix, never left, yet she still went missing.

Two months later, Bailey came home. But in a pitiful state that had to be traumatic for anyone to see.

Get our free mobile app

Ihrig told the Maquoketa Sentinel-Press that Bailey was returned to him deceased, in a garbage bag. One of her eyes was missing, and she had "probably 30 lacerations [....] like tears or rips, not from knives, but from fighting."

This tragic story is an outlier insofar that the dog was returned to his owner dead. Per the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, at least five other dogs have gone missing from owners' properties in the Otter Creek/Zwingle area over the last several months. To their knowledge, unlike Bailey, the five other pups have yet to return home.

Supervisor Don Schwenker brought the issue to a February Jackson County Board of Supervisors meeting, speculating the dogs are being stolen and used as training for dog fighting rings possibly near Dubuque. Since then, little-to-no concrete evidence has been revealed. Some report seeing Ring doorbell footage of their dogs being lured into trucks, but details remain spotty. Suspects are scant.

It's tough to end a story like this on a cliffhanger, but that's where it sits at this time. I write this piece as a desire to raise public awareness. My girlfriend, Catherine, and I are proud pet-owners, with three cats and a dog. They are our family members. I know we're not in the minority with how we view and value these animals as indispensable parts of our lives.

Be aware, and read more on the Telegraph Herald's website and the Maquoketa Press-Sentinel's website.