Help Babs Fry Find Lost Dogs!

"THE SHORT STORY"

Babs Fry is a "dog finder" based in San Diego. Over the past several years, she has helped find HUNDREDS of lost dogs and reunite them with their human companions. With a deep understanding of animal behavior and instinct, Babs uses non-conventional methods to find lost dogs, relying on scent, rotisserie chicken, motion and heat-detecting cameras, live traps, and yes, even dirty underwear. 

She's been featured by the Today show and is a legend in California and beyond. Babs helps anyone, anytime, and does it all for free. She typically consults by phone with 5-10 people whose dogs are missing every day, and frequently leaves her home in San Diego to direct search and rescue operations in the field ... all without asking for a penny in return.

Babs recently helped our dear friend, Lew, find his missing dog, a standard poodle named Colette, after she spent 6 days lost in the desert following a horrific rollover car crash. ⭐ Please take a moment to read "The Long Story" below to learn more about this amazing search and rescue operation. ⭐ 

WHAT WE'RE HOPING TO DO

Reuniting hundreds of lost dogs with their human companions, Babs has never asked for payment. Her operation runs solely on charitable donations, and we want to help her out!

Please consider donating ANYTHING to help us buy the equipment Babs needs to keep finding and reuniting lost dogs in California and across the United States. 

Together, we can help provide Babs with:

✅ Motion and Heat-Sensing Cameras ($450 each)
✅ Live Traps ($100 each)
✅ Rotisserie Chickens ($5 each)
✅ A New Search-and-Rescue Van ($40,000)***

***We are hoping to help Babs buy as many of these items as possible. IF however, we are able to reach $40,000, we can fund the purchase of a new van for search and rescue operations. That is the ultimate goal. Her current vehicle has well over 100,000 miles and is no longer suited to the demands of 24/7 search and rescue. Please consider donating ANY amount to help us get there!

We asked Babs to "think big" when putting together a list of things we could help raise money for. She said, "Maybe a few motion-sensing cameras. They're about $450 each." Of course, that would be amazing, but imagine if we could raise WAY more than that and help fund a brand-new van to support her cross-state operations!

$5, $10, $50 or more... ANY amount helps and ALL money raised will directly support Babs Fry's efforts to find lost dogs and reunite them with their human companions.

Please consider donating to help Babs continue to find and save lost dogs!

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"THE LONG STORY"

Colette, a standard poodle, came into our friend Lew's life shortly after Lew's husband of 25 years passed away unexpectedly on New Year's Day. In the aftermath of devastating loss, Colette and Lew became inseparable. 

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A year later, on a road trip to a friend's house in Palm Springs, Lew and Colette were involved in a horrific rollover car crash. Firefighters rescued Lew from the vehicle, but when they tried to do the same for Colette, the frightened dog bolted into the desert. 

Colette was gone.

A day passed. Then two. Then three. Then four.

Lew, who had miraculously survived the rollover accident almost unscathed, was in despair. We — his family and friends — scoured the Palm Springs area. We posted flyers, shared photos of Colette on local Facebook groups, and even ran our own Facebook ads. 

Still, no sign of Colette.

And then, on day four... the smallest sliver of hope. 

Responding to a Facebook ad, a woman commented that she knew a "dog finder," Babs Fry, who could help find Colette and reunite her with Lew. She gave us her phone number. She was certain she could help.

We were skeptical. After four days lost in the desert, the chances of finding Colette seemed remote. Starvation. Dehydration. Coyotes. Could a so-called "dog finder" really help? It didn't seem likely. And still, we had nothing to lose.

We called Babs Fry.

We didn't know it at the time, but EVERYTHING was about to change.

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Less than 24 hours later — 6 days after she was lost — in a daring operation organized by Babs Fry, Colette was rescued from a 40-foot cliff face just outside Palm Springs, and reunited with Lew. 

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HOW DID IT HAPPEN?

On Day 4, after explaining the situation to her, Babs — the "pet detective" from San Diego — immediately volunteered to join a conference call with us and devise a plan to find Colette. Babs was a straight-shooter. She told us we'd made some mistakes in our initial efforts to find Colette, but that it wasn't too late. In fact, Babs said, she'd found and rescued many dogs 10, 20, 30, even 50+ days after they went missing!

She was confident we could find her.

"They always come back to the place where they were lost," Babs said. "She will be back. I guarantee it."

Over the next hour-and-a-half, Babs laid out her plan, involving scent, rotisserie chicken, motion-sensing cameras, and yes, dirty underwear. She told us to stop offering a reward, because it would encourage people to chase Colette, who was already fearful and might run further away. She told us to remove Colette's name from all flyers and Facebook posts (because people yelling might frighten her), and instead distribute Colette's picture with the simple message, "Fearful. Will Run. DO NOT APPROACH. Call 24/7." Babs gave us her cell phone number and insisted that we include it on all posts and flyers.

"I answer every call and text," she said. "I don't get a lot of sleep."

When we had a sighting, Babs said, she would drive from San Diego to Palm Springs and lead the rescue.

Oh, and there was no charge for her services, Babs said. "For whatever reason, I do this for free."

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There was a sighting that night.

Colette had been spotted on a rocky cliff face, not far from the scene of the accident — just as Babs had predicted.  She was in a precarious situation, at least 40 feet up on loose, rocky ground, close to a VERY steep drop. One wrong step would likely kill her. And there was no easy way to reach her. 

Babs coordinated with us to get Lew to the scene immediately. "Do not call to her," she said. "Trust me, she'll know you're there anyway. Just stay put at the base of the cliff. Don't do anything."

For hours, we took turns keeping an eye on Colette, who stayed in her position at the edge of the cliff. She stared at Lew, and knew he was there. From time to time, she would bark, calling out to him.

Babs arrived overnight and slept in her van until dawn.

As the sun rose, the task ahead seemed more impossible than ever before. Colette was stuck at the cliff's edge with no easy way down. Babs consulted maps of the terrain and called a friend — a local climber. They began making plans for an ascent of the cliff face. 

Hours later, as the climbers began ascending, Colette's behavior seemed to change. 

"Get Lew here," Babs said. "Now." A friend drove Lew, who had taken off overnight to get some rest, back to the scene.

Colette, free-spirited as always, had decided enough was enough. She was going to find her daddy no matter what. As Babs, Lew, and the rest of the team looked on, Colette began an agonizing journey down the cliff face. With each step, loose rock and debris crumbled down the sheer incline.

But Colette was determined — and Bab's plan had worked!

Finally, Colette arrived at the bottom of the cliff and bolted into Lew's arms.

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Miracles DO happen. Sometimes they just need some help. That's what Babs did for us.