‘I Wasn’t Leaving Until I Got That Dog’: San Angelo Man Camps Nearly a Week to Save Stray

Farmer said he first saw Facebook posts about a dog that had been roaming near the EQ Channel for about two weeks. Passing through the area, he spotted the dog himself and decided to intervene.

“She was always there near the gate, but nobody’s getting her," Farmer said. "I’m gonna get her. I’m doing it no matter what." 

At first, he left food and water and sat with her for hours at a time. By the following week, he was staying through the night.

“I was only leaving to take a shower real quick and then get right back,” Farmer said. “The rest of the time I was either in my truck or sitting with her.”

Over several days, Farmer and volunteers tried nearly every method they knew. A walk-in trap failed. A $200 cage collapsed after Choochi bent the door. A horse trailer set up as a massive enclosure didn’t work either.

“She’s so smart you could feed her from your hand, but you couldn’t get her,” Farmer said. “I’ve saved like 20 or 30 dogs throughout my life, and five in the last couple of years. I just got a 4-pound Chihuahua in the same place in December that was out there a month and a half. But I’ve never seen anything like this.”

The failed attempts weighed heavily on him. “My truck actually had two dead batteries. I had to replace them out there, an alternator and a serpentine belt,” Farmer said. “I was running on two hours a night. I felt like I was about to die. I was like, I’m gonna have a stroke. So I need to end this. But I couldn’t quit. I just couldn’t.”

Farmer said he relied on others for support. “Without those ladies, I wouldn’t be where I’m at today,” he said, referring to Mary Coffey, Rebecca Burns, and another woman who asked not to be named. “They were my dream team.”

Law enforcement and city staff also checked in. “The San Angelo Police Department pulled up one night about 11 o’clock… and said, ‘Are you OK? Can I get you any food or water?’” Farmer said. “The support was unbelievable."

On Tuesday, around 8:30 p.m., after nearly a week of failed traps, the breakthrough came. Volunteers were lying on the ground with their own dogs when Choochi wandered close enough for Burns to grab her paw.

“She had just had hand surgery, and I don’t know how she held on,” Farmer said. “But she did."

Farmer said that Coffey helped pin the dog, so they could get her before the leash broke, before adding another to get her into the kennel.

After weeks of roaming, Choochi was finally secured. “It wasn’t about ropes or traps,” Farmer said. “It was love. That’s how we caught her.”

Choochi is now decompressing at Farmer’s home, eating regularly, and resting in a kennel. Her spay surgery is scheduled for Sept. 10, with Critter Shack and Cassie’s Place covering the cost. Grooming will follow once she adjusts.

“She’s mine now,” Farmer said. “She belongs with me.”

Farmer said his life has included high-profile experiences, but none compares to saving Choochi.

“I’ve toured with bands, I’ve worked in racing, but nothing compared to this,” Farmer said. “The way people came together — it was bigger than me. It was God’s plan, and it saved a dog’s life.”

He previously toured for eight years with Los Lonely Boys, working as a tour manager and as a guitar tech, and later joined a Top Fuel racing team that competed nationally. He said those careers put him on stage and on television, but never gave him the sense of purpose he felt while rescuing the dog.

The effort has inspired Farmer to launch a nonprofit rescue organization, which he said will be called God’s Ark Animal Rescue.

Farmer said supporters later convinced him to accept help with costs. A Cash App account, $JasonFarmer99, was set up by Burns to help cover food, supplies and veterinary care. “Not one penny is for me,” Farmer said. “Everything goes to the animals.”

Farmer said the process of forming a 501(c)(3) is underway, and he has purchased the domain for a future website.

“This dog brought people together,” Farmer said. “I didn’t do anything special. I just did what I was supposed to do in the eyes of my father.”