Life has a tendency to change in the blink of an eye. One moment your dog is in the backyard and, in the next, they go missing for a week in the wilderness.
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Saryta Schaerer lives in the Highlands area of Vancouver Island, a remote area off of Canada’s Pacific Coast. Her dog, Luna, a mastiff-retriever mix, must have caught the scent of an animal last month, because the usually quiet dog bolted from her yard and fell down a cliff.
Luna landed on a narrow ledge, an area where she couldn’t be seen from above. Saryta called for help, and soon volunteers trudged into the woods to search for her. As the days wore on, her family began to fear the worst.
“It was terrible because it was getting colder and she always sleeps next to me or my daughter,” said Saryta sadly.
Meanwhile, on other side of a body of water called Finlayson Arm, neighbor Ron Cheeke heard a dog barking. He took his boat out to explore the opposite coastline, but he couldn’t pin down the sound.
“I used a pot and pan, and every time I banged on the pot and pan the dog barked back,” he said.
He reported the sound to a pet rescue group who connected the dots and realized the barking dog was likely Luna. A team of rescuers began to search along the edge of the water and, eventually, they found the terrified dog clinging to the ledge – seven days after she went missing.
Rescuers used a harness to pull the dog back up over the cliff where Saryta was eagerly waiting. It’s hard to say who was more excited, the dog or her humans!
“I almost fell over when I saw her, it was quite exciting,” Saryta recalled. “I was so excited, she was too. Her butt was wiggling from left to right.”
Ron was especially gratified to help find Luna because he recently lost his own dog. Helping Luna find her way back home was cathartic for him, and he was pleased to be a part of the rescue.
Volunteer Andy Carswell said that a positive outcome like this one means the world to these dedicated animal lovers.
“There’s no feeling like it,” he said. “When you’re involved with this and you get the owner back with the pet, it’s worth all the money in the world.”
Andy also wanted to remind people that if their pet goes missing, never give up! They’re out there somewhere, and it’s up to us to bring them home.
Share this story to thank Ron for being so attentive to Luna’s barks and to all of the rescue team for creating this happy ending for all involved.
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