Linda Haller, director of shelter operations at the Hawaiian Humane Society, gets a licking from a mixed border collie found in a canal. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

For about a month, the dog lived in a deep drainage canal and in the nearby backyard of an automobile mechanic's home and business.

The mechanic's family and elderly residents in a nearby group home kept feeding the animal, but they also kept calling the humane society to come and fetch it

Four attempts, including one with the help of the Honolulu Fire Department, all failed, said Vernon Ling, an investigator with the society.

"This dog was obviously lost and needed to be brought to the shelter," Ling said.

Because the dog was wearing a red harness on her body, Ling believes there is an owner out there looking for the animal. The society will keep her for seven days in the hopes that someone will take the scrappy dog home. If not, the dog could be put up for adoption.