After surviving freezing rain, deep snow and below-zero temperatures for more than a month, the shih tzu/Pomeranian mix finally got captured by wildlife rehabilitator Phyllis Carlson of Quinnesec.

Jonsie’s owner, 50-year-old Lynn Schwittay of Niagara, Wis., died Dec. 28. As Niagara police tried to temporarily place her two dogs at the Almost Home Animal Shelter for Schwittay’s family to pick up later, Jonsie managed to bolt away, running up Lincoln Avenue and eventually across the U.S. 2 in Quinnesec.

In subsequent days, the 3-year-old dog was sighted at several local residences and businesses — Great American Disposal, the House of Yesteryear, 41 Lumber, the storage units, UP Cycle and Sport, and Culver’s restaurant.

Yet Jonsie proved elusive, fleeing in fear when approached.

Amie Lee is greeted by Jonsie when she arrived at the Almost Home Animal Shelter to bring him home Wednesday afternoon after the dog had wandered the area for 33 days. Lee is a cousin to Jonsie's late owner, Lynn Schwittay. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

Carlson advised anyone who spotted the dog to back off and report the sighting but not pursue.

“We set a couple of trail cams and a couple of traps in several places he was going,” she said, “but there was nothing for six days.”

The sightings would remain sporadic. Then Monday, workers at GAD spotted the dog scurrying out of the transfer building, where he apparently had been eating garbage.

So Carlson placed another trap, baited with McDonald’s chicken nuggets and hamburgers. They had success, but only temporary.

“We actually trapped him,” Carlson said, “but he managed to get out.”

Phyllis Carlson's trail camera photo showing Jonsie trapped at a residence on Baler Road in Quinnsec early Wednesday.

The next day, when Jonsie showed up at a private residence off Baler Road, Carlson decided to take her pursuit of the wayward dog to another level: She invested in a trail camera that can transmit photos to a cellphone.

“It was going to be expensive, but they had one on sale and it had a fifty-dollar rebate and I love toys,” Carlson said.

She put long johns on underneath her pajamas before going to bed that night, just in case. At 1:50 a.m. Wednesday, her phone dinged.

“It woke me up and I looked at the photo and yelled ‘DOG’! There he was in the pic, standing by the trap. I headed out in my pajamas and waited near the driveway. As soon as I got a pic showing him trapped, I rushed up there,” she said.

Carlson was relieved and tired when she transported the dog to the shelter. But she insisted Jonsie is the hero in this story.

“He kept himself alive through the snow, ice and cold all this time, searching and finding food to survive,” Carlson said. “If he hadn’t kept himself alive, I could have never caught him. I’m just the person that tricked him into a trap and got him home.”

Schwittay’s cousin, Amie Lee, arrived Wednesday afternoon to pick up the dog for her elderly aunt, Judy Wright of Niagara, who is Schwittay’s mother.

While Jonsie had been skittish with shelter staff, Lee revealed the family mostly had called the dog “Baby.” When she whispered, “Hi, Baby,” he instantly responded to her, she said.

She said it was “pretty awesome” Carlson had managed to capture the dog. “Closure for the family is the best way to describe this,” she said.

Shelter Director Diane Luczak was grateful for Carlson’s help. “It’s amazing how much she cares about animals. There are pets that show up here that the owners don’t even care to look for and she is a stranger and helps out more than many owners,” Luczak said.

Carlson agreed pet owners can be irresponsible but said that wasn’t the case this time. “This dog was helpless, his owner passed away and most of her relatives didn’t live in the area or weren’t able to search,” she said.

Both Carlson and Luczak encouraged area residents to report sightings of lost animals to the shelter.

“So many people don’t call when they see a dog or find it and won’t bring it to the shelter because they think it will be euthanized, but that isn’t true,” Carlson said.

“And at night, police have a key to bring strays to the shelter,” Luczak added. “Even if they are closed, someone stops in to feed the animals and we always listen to the messages.”