Vado residents attempt to save stray dog with its head trapped in jar

Vado residents say it’s been incredibly difficult trying to capture a stray dog with his head stuck in a plastic jar.

“I have no clue how long he’s been this way,” said Karen Wagoner, a neighbor who has attempted to help the dog.

Over the past several days, the trapped dog has continued to return to a house on Coors Road near Interstate 10. Neighbors have unsuccessfully tried to fence the dog in attempts to free him.

Volunteers attempted to fence the dog in as an ABC-7 camera was rolling Monday but were unsuccessful. As soon as anyone gets near the dog, it runs away.

“I’ve tried to catch him, and he is so fearful of humans,” Wagoner said. “I’m doing the best I can, trying to get attention to where we can get him help.”

Wagoner said the dog head has been stuck in the jar since at least Saturday, presumably during the day and night. Low temperatures have dropped to the low twenties in the past several days.

“The good thing right now is it’s cold, so it’s not hot,” Wagoner said. “Otherwise, he would have already been dead. But he’s been this way for a while.”

An animal control officer was responding to the area at 3 p.m., but the dog was nowhere to be found. Doña Ana County spokesman Jess Williams told ABC-7 the animal control department attempts to respond as quickly as possible.

“It is a large county; it’s 3,804 square miles of service area,” Williams said. On top of that, you’ve got the fact that we’ve got one of the highest intakes per capita of any city in the nation, or any county in the nation. So, these animal control officers are very busy out in the field, but they do respond to the calls that come in from dispatch.”

If you would like to help search for the dog, please call the southern New Mexico Humane Society at 575-547-1416.