Meet Babs Fry | Pet Recovery Specialist and Trapper

We had the good fortune of connecting with Babs Fry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Babs, we’d love for you to start things off by telling us something about your industry that we and others not in the industry might be unaware of?
While known for the perceived success rate in recovering and reuniting pets, they are not all happy endings. Few know or really understand the extreme level of responsibility and pressure that comes with what I do. Coaching owners, making decisions in the field and navigating the sea of variables in an environment beyond control or predictability with life and death outcomes is emotionally intense. The highs and lows are extreme. Convincing people to support a counterintuitive process based on that experience and animal behavior can be a challenging balance. People innocently come to the table with expectations and sometimes think it’s a magic wand, crystal ball or immediate results. It’s a process that takes passive patience and can be very difficult but makes a difference in minimizing risk and improving odds for a positive outcome.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I established and run a NonProfit organization dedicated to helping owners with lost pets for Free. Through years of experience with fearful dogs and subsequent time in the field catching them in uncontrolled settings with unpredictable variables I help owners understand how they impact the decisions of their pets operating on raw instinctual behavior. My primary focus is navigating the balance of “people panic” and animal behavior. The pet lost is going to behave very differently than the one they know in the comfort of their home. The hardest part is taking the emotional piece out of an incredibly difficult and emotionally charged situation. The key to success is a plan based on animal decisions, not people fear, feelings and guilt. Once an owner sees how their actions drive their pets’ behavior we can better align our activities toward a positive outcome. It can be difficult and not everyone can embrace the process.

My biggest challenge over the years has been accepting that not everyone will be on board and despite my intense desire and commitment to help I have to accept there will be cases where I CANNOT help. Early on this felt like quitting on a pet but I have learned that if people want to do things differently it’s not a lack of desire but a lack of ability to help on my part. If people are going to do things that sabotage the process (doing the “do’s” while concurrently doing the “don’ts”, which does not work) then stepping back is best rather than making a difficult situation worse by trying to push for receptiveness or compliance. That is always hard for me. I try to have grace and still work daily to be loving and kind when giving owners directions that are struggling with staying on board. However, as I often tell others, it’s about life and death, not feelings. Sadly there many cases where the struggle and innocent mistakes by owners have turned into missed opportunities and sometimes a sad ending.

I commit myself fully 24/7 to every pet, as if it were my own. I feel the feelings of their owners. What I am here to do is help compartmentalize that and bring objectivity to the table. Through the people (owners and general public) we can help the animal do what they do best…… survive. It’s INSTINCT. Our job is to stay out of the way, help keep them safe (through people management) until we can get them safe at home or in the field. That’s where I come in. I can help an owner navigate leads, the interaction with their pet to connect or not threaten and step in personally when needed to catch or trap a frightened pet. The same goes for the many street strays I am called on to help and subsequently capture. Many of those dogs, have extreme fears and require lengthy rehabilitation so are now part of our rescue, learning life skills, trust, love and looking for new homes.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend visiting, I’d love to show them how in San Diego you can go from the ocean to mountains, warm to cold, chaotically city to country quiet, all in one day. We’d start at the beach, go up the coast, head inland through the desert and finish coming south through the mountains.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My journey has evolved over time but began when I lost a dog. I was desperate, ignorant and innocently arrogant. I didn’t think I had time for advice because there was no one that could help me. I had a dog I had just met, was terrified of people, been at my house less than 12 hours and ran into the wilderness of predators in rural East San Diego County. A woman, Laura Bidinger, took my call (like I do today) and laid out a plan. I doubted the process but was desperate enough to listen and knew after a day and a half what I was doing was not working so needed different results. While counterintuitive and not in line with my HUMAN feelings it made sense. As a direct result of that guidance my dog was trapped and safe after 10 days. I vowed to “pay it forward” and after a lot of persistence Laura let me join and learn. As time evolved I found I had a gift and a passion. As my experience exposed me to more complicated cases, I came into contact with my now friend and mentor, Mike Noon. He is the go to for the creative captures and complex cases involving multiple dogs. Through them both I have fine tuned my craft, learned what I didn’t know and been encouraged to grow into the trapper and expert I am today.

Website: https://awayhomefordogs.com

Instagram: @awayhomefordogs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWayHomeforDogs

Other: Phone (619)249-2221