Friday was a great day for Judith, a three-legged dog reported missing last week, with the canine being found and returned to her family.
Judith’s owner, Julia Mathias, says her pet seems to be in good shape, despite having been lost on her own in Golden Ears park for nine days.
“She looks fine. She looks tired, hungry, and a little bit stinky, but overall, she looks fine,” she told CityNews.
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Karen Nixon is a volunteer with Scent Rescue Team, the group that found Judith, as well as a goldendoodle named Shampoo who had been lost — and found — in the same area this week.
The team consists of three friends who work to reunite lost pets with their families in the Lower Mainland in their spare time.
She and her team used tracking dogs and other methods to find Judith, who had been lost on her own in the park for nine days.
“I got a dog that I trained to do it, and invited my friends to join,” she said.
“Now we use a combination of dogs, cameras, lots of different tools, traps, maps, social media, posters, and so far, we’ve been pretty successful in our short time doing this.”
The process is pretty involved, and patience is key when searching for lost animals. The last thing you want to do, Nixon says, is to chase the pet, because this will drive them further away.
Finding Judith involved observing her behaviour and movements, she says.
“The way we draw them to the camera, we’re always cognizant of wildlife, other dogs eating the food,” Nixon said.
“So we actually scent the trees with liquid smoke and cat food. We kind of rub it into the bark. So we make that really nice, smelly place for the dog to come and check out.”
Judith is now back with her family after being rescued. (Scent Rescue Team via Facebook)
Judith is now back with her family after being rescued. (Scent Rescue Team via Facebook)
She says dogs are very resourceful and can often find ways to survive in the woods for a short time.
“They eat everything, so from grubs, and some dogs are really good at hunting,” she said “Some, I know a lot of them eat… bear feces, coyote feces. There’s still some leftover nutrients in there. And even a dog that has his daily meals is sort of attracted to that stuff.”
Nixon says she and her team located about 30 pets between September and January.
“It’s really emotional when you see them reunited because of the roller coaster of emotions they have, from hope to dismay,” she said.
It isn’t just the families who are happy when their pets are found; the furry friends also get excited.
“Once they get around two feet of their owner, you see them light up,” Nixon said.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s you. Hey, hi!’ And then they switch right out of survival mode, and they’re back to being your pet.”
Shampoo’s owners requested Scent Rescue Team’s help on June 18 or 19, and Nixon and her team worked on locating the two dogs at the same time.
The team uses a trap that was donated from a group called Coastal Dog Rescue.
“We had helped them, we reunited them with one of their rescue dogs that had escaped a foster home,” Nixon said. “And while we do accept donations to pay for equipment and costs, we don’t accept donations from rescues because they need all of their funding to continue doing what they do.”
They did accept this trap for a special reason, she says.
“Coastal Dog Rescue donated a trap in another dog’s name,” she said, saying that this other dog, named Haru, did not survive. “In her name, this trap has already saved two dogs.”
Now, thanks to Nixon and her team, Mathias and Judith are back together.
“We are super happy,” Mathias said. “We are taking her home now. “