NOLA's 'Most Notorious Fugitive' Is On the Run Again

He's popped up on "Most Wanted" posters around New Orleans, and locals have been on the lookout for him for months on end. Scrim, the dog that the Washington Post calls the "stray Houdini" and "arguably the Big Easy's most notorious fugitive" has especially frustrated Michelle Cheramie, owner of the Zeus' Rescues nonprofit shelter that's been on the hunt for the approximately 17-pound, 3-year-old Westie.

• Backstory: NOLA reports that Scrim first appeared on Louisiana's radar when he showed up as a stray at a Houma trailer park in late October 2023. Cheramie then retrieved Scrim from a local animal shelter and placed him in April with an adoptive family—but within hours, Scrim had escaped. The Post says his name is taken from "the New Orleans grunge rapper who'd penned lyrics about wandering," while the Wall Street Journal reports he was named after "the gauzy fabric sometimes used in Mardi Gras costumes."

• The hunt is on: For nearly six months, New Orleans pulled out all the stops to try to find the cagey, clever canine, with posters, net launchers, and a "ScrimTracker" on Google that maps out Scrim sightings. The dog even ended up with an anesthesia dart in his hip during one particularly close encounter, but he still got away. "Just shocking," one veterinarian tells the Post, noting that "in the clinic, dogs will drop in under a minute" after receiving a similar dose.
• A capture, then another escape: Finally, Cheramie's team wrangled Scrim into captivity in October, and she even kept him at her own home temporarily—until Nov. 15, when he chewed through the screen of a second-floor window, made his way onto her roof, and leaped 13 feet down to freedom.
• 'Folk hero': The AP notes that Scrim has become a "folk hero" of sorts, "inspiring tattoos, T-shirts, and even a ballad." Some people believe the dog should be allowed his freedom, even pushing the #FreeScrim hashtag online, while others think so many resources being expended on one dog is overkill, per the Journal.
• Where's Scrim now? As of Monday morning, no Scrim sightings had come in for a full 48 hours, causing new concern for his whereabouts. "Maybe he got clipped by a car and is hiding under a house, injured," Cheramie worries to NOLA. She says Scrim being allowed to roam on his own isn't the answer. "The streets of New Orleans are not the place for a dog to be free," she tells the AP, warning that anyone who thinks they've spotted Scrim shouldn't chase him. Instead, they should note his location and what direction he's traveling in and give her a call at 504-231-7865.

(More dogs stories.)