Stanwood police rescue portly Chihuahua from a ditch

STANWOOD — It was a horrible day, but with a happy ending.

On Feb. 26, Angie Baasch and her Chihuahua, Stewart, were walking home from the dog groomer’s in Stanwood. She crossed the street to get the mail, and her hand, still weak from a recent carpal-tunnel surgery, dropped Stewart’s new retractable leash.

The thick plastic handle hit the ground with a thud. The noise scared Stewart, who took off.

He wasn’t found for hours, and only then because a Stanwood police sergeant searched a field with his flashlight in the dark.

Except for walks and occasional sunbathing, Stewart is an inside dog, Baasch said. His family calls him “Stewy.” He doesn’t like the rain. She rescued him about 18 months ago from the N.O.A.H animal shelter in Stanwood. He’d been found wandering in Yakima.

Stewart’s about 2.5 years old now. Baasch admits he’s spoiled.

“Right now, he’s a little pork chop,” she said. “He’s 14 and a half pounds.”

Baasch, 38, is a cook at the Warm Beach Senior Community center. She grew up in Arlington and moved to Stanwood, off of 271st Street NW, about two years ago.

Stewart has escaped once or twice before, but he always comes right back, Baasch said. This time, he was attached to the leash attached to the plastic holder. As he ran, the holder kept banging on the ground, making more loud noises, and making him run faster, she said. She fell off the sidewalk chasing him.

That was about 2 p.m. For the next four hours, she walked around asking neighbors if they’d seen Stewart. She called local shelters in case he showed up.

Her mother told her to call animal control.

A Stanwood police officer came to the house. He asked what color Stewart was, what he was wearing. The police helped look for awhile, but then they got called out to other incidents, said Stanwood police Sgt. Ryan Gausman.

At some point that evening, Baasch locked up her house and left the keys inside, locking herself out. It happened because she was upset about Stewart.

“I was bawling,” she said. “He is like my family. He wasn’t just some dog I picked up. I really wanted him, and to know that he was out there, it was absolutely devastating for me to know he was going to be out there in the cold, in the rain. It was just horrible.”

Baasch called six different locksmiths, and no one would come to Stanwood. She walked to the gas station and saw Gausman. She told him about her predicament.

Gausman tried to help her get into her house but he didn’t want to damage the home by breaking in. He called deputy Tracy Peckham and deputy Robert Pilgrim, and they brought tools. They got the house back open about 8:30 p.m., Baasch said.

At that point, Baasch needed to go to sleep. Stewart’s spot on the bed was empty.

The police officers decided to take another look for the missing pooch.

Gausman figured someone would have spotted Stewart if the dog was still loose in the neighborhood, he said. The only other direction the dog could have run was toward a field. Gausman saw a big ditch, the kind used for flood control, about 10 feet wide and several feet deep. There was water in the ditch. Gausman worried he’d find the dog drowned. He walked about a hundred yards along the ditch.

“I went over there, and there’s a big deep ditch behind the houses there, like a canal, and he had fallen into that,” Gausman said. “Luckily for him, he landed in a spot that had a dirt shelf.”

The walls of the ditch were too steep for Stewart to climb out by himself. When Gausman shined his flashlight on him, Stewart got scared and hid his head underneath some berry bushes.

“His tail and his rear end was sticking out,” Gausman said.

Peckham was able to climb into the ditch from the other side. She hoisted the dog up by his harness like a little suitcase, Gausman said.

“He was very happy to be found,” Gausman said.

At 9 p.m., Peckham knocked on Baasch’s door. She asked Baasch to come outside.

Baasch figured Stewart was dead, and the cops had brought back his body. She started crying again. The deputy motioned Baasch toward the patrol car, where Stewart was waiting.

“There he was sitting in the back seat like a criminal,” Baasch said. “I crawled in the car and I sat down. We sat there for a couple of minutes. He was dirty from head to toe.”

Coyotes often run through that neighborhood, Gausman said. He was worried Stewart would become a snack. Baasch had told the police that Stewart was unlikely to bite them if they found him. He was more likely to cower, she said.

“It was like a miracle that they found a little dog,” Baasch said. “I can’t say anything more besides that they brought back my family. They went well above what they are supposed to do. They were out there at night, in the dark, in the cold, looking for a little Chihuahua. I could thank them a hundred times.”

Stewart had no injuries other than being dirty and cold. He got a nice warm bath, and he got wrapped up in his fur blanket.

Gausman took a photo of Stewart for the Stanwood Police Department Facebook page. The post got nearly 80 “likes.”

Stewart also showed the sergeant some of his tricks, including one where he makes noises like a monkey.

“He’s a really cute little guy, like a little football,” Gausman said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood blocks Highway 99 south

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.