posted May 13, 2011 12:17 AM            

It almost sounds like a story out of a children's book. A Nashua, N.H., dog reported missing a year ago had been living on the banks of the Merrimac River with a group of feral cats. The dog, Gypsy Girl, was finally rescued

Gypsy is a 3-year-old black Labrador mix originally from Alabama. She was adopted by a New Hampshire family in March 2010. Shortly after, Gypsy slipped her collar and ran away.

"Her adoptive family did look for her for a while but finally gave up," Debi Vaughn, director of operations for the Humane Society for Greater Nashua, told AOL News. She has been living without human contact in a wooded area of the city of Nashua ever since.

"A couple of weeks ago, we received a tip from Kitty Angels, a nonprofit group that cares for feral cats, about a dog living among cats near the riverbank," Holly Mokrzecki, founder of the all-volunteer Granite State Dog Recovery, told AOL News.

The group, along with the help of the Humane Society, set up a kennel with food in it in the hopes of rescuing Gypsy. They also set up a camera to watch the dog's comings and goings. They would stake out the kennel every night from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the hopes of catching her. But the sly dog eluded the group for 11 nights -- quickly going into the kennel only long enough to grab the bowl of food and pull it out.

On the 12th night, Granite State Dog Recovery enlisted the help of Steve Sprowl of the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Sprowl placed a spring trap with marrow bone in the kennel.

The bone proved to be the kind of bait Gypsy couldn't resist. She was finally caught at 3 a.m. and taken to the Humane Society for Greater Nashua, where she is being treated for Lyme disease but is otherwise healthy and happy.

"As soon as we rescued her, she was giving us kisses and wagging her tail," Mokrzecki says. "It was almost like she was relieved that she was finally caught. She's a wonderful, wonderful dog."

Since she was abandoned by her former family, Gypsy will be put up for adoption by the Humane Society in a few weeks.

"Gypsy is a sweet dog that loves people," Vaughn says. "Her personality would fit anywhere, but since she is a bit of a flight risk, this will be a special adoption to a person or family who has experience with dogs, particularly dogs with a tendency to wander. But she will make a very sweet, very good pet."