Missing for 9 months, lost dog found in Kimball Junction after surviving the winter

Spike was found on Wednesday in Kimball Junction after being missing for over nine months. Photo: Trisha Anderson // Trusted Trappers

SUMMIT COUNTY, Utah — Spike, a dog that went missing on June 4 near the Skullcandy building in Kimball Junction, was finally found on Wednesday after surviving the winter.

Summit County Animal Control found him in the Redstone area of Kimball Junction.

Spike escaped from a Salt Lake foster home around Christmas 2020, according to Trisha Anderson of Trusted Trappers, a volunteer organization that has been tracking the dog to help bring him home.  It took them 17 days to track him down then.

He went missing again back in June shortly after being adopted by a resident of Kimball Junction.

“It was a very long summer of trying to trap until he finally disappeared again and we weren’t getting sightings anymore,” Anderson said,

“He is a very smart pup and survived the winter in Kimball Junction… We were able to get him eating from our feeding station on camera for the last few months. He finally got to where he would reach halfway into our trap, but just would not fully go inside,” she said.

Anderson said Spike can go to Nuzzles & Co., a pet rescue nonprofit based in Summit County. Spike’s previous owner chose closure in the months after losing him and chose to adopt another dog. However, the owner is not allowed to have more than one dog due to personal matters, according to Anderson. The previous owner has to officially relinquish her rights with the sheriff, and Spike can go to Nuzzles.

Anderson has offered to help train Spike with his eventual new owner, and said she will be donating a GPS collar.