Shaggy The Dog Is Finally Captured [Video]

While I understand why Shaggy, the wild Newfoundland dog which roamed wild among the woods of suburban Cascade Township, had to be captured, I'm a little sad his freedom has come to an end.

Shaggy was caught Thursday, WZZM-13 reported.

After months of roaming free among the neighborhoods of Cascade Township, Shaggy was harnessed and sent to live on a rescue farm until he is no longer feral.

Ella Stubbert posted a photo Thursday on the Help Shaggy Facebook page, showing him wrapped in a blanket in a cage, in the back of a vehicle.

"Shaggy is bundled up and heading to start his new life! Finally the collar is off and he no longer has to spend another night out in the cold," she wrote in the post.

Neighbors were concerned the collar, which was placed on Shaggy as a puppy, could strangle the growing animal.

Kim Stubbert fed Shaggy for the past several weeks in her garage and was able to build trust with him. Thursday she lured him with canned dog food and smoked salmon and was able to put a slip lead leash around him.

Melissa Zudweg Borden, who runs an animal rehabilitation center near Monroe said Shaggy is on his way to a veterinarian and will be treated at the Devoted Barn rescue and rehabilitation facility in Newport.

Shaggy will be looked at by the vet, and then will be put in a feral dog rehabilitation program at the Devoted Barn. Borden says that the program can take anywhere from six months to a year before a feral dog will be able to be adopted.

Shaggy, named by residents because of his unruly coat, had lived off the good graces of the neighbors in Cascade and Ada who had come to love the goofy, big dog. Shaggy was first spotted in the woods late last spring and he loved the company of other dogs, but would run when humans came near.

Living off food left out on porches, and sleeping in garages that residents left open for him, Shaggy was a free spirit who captured the imagination of those who bristle at the rules set out by society. He seemed to live life the way he wanted to, and chose to live on good fortune rather than on the end of a leash.

God bless you, Shaggy, and I hope you end up in a good place. Preferably one with a huge, wooded yard so you can do what you love: roam the woods.

Here's an earlier WZZM-13 report about Shaggy.