A dachshund misplaced in Australia continues to be alive after greater than a yr, and nonetheless apparently sporting her pink collar. However she has proved elusive to recapture.
The story begins in November 2023 when a pair took their pet miniature dachshund, Valerie, to Kangaroo Island off the coast of Adelaide. However Valerie escaped from her pen and rushed off into the bush.
The couple scrapped their plans and searched for his or her pet for 5 days with the assistance of locals earlier than lastly giving up and returning to their dwelling in New South Wales.
“It was like discovering a needle in a haystack,” Valerie’s proprietor Josh Fishlock advised the “Today” show in Australia.
(Sure, the Australian island the place Valerie went lacking is named Kangaroo Island. Its Aboriginal identify is Karta Pintingga, that means “island of the useless.” Given Valerie’s predicament, we’re going to stay with Kangaroo Island.)
Now, greater than a yr after Valerie’s disappearance, hope has sprung. “Primarily based on firsthand accounts and video proof, we now know that Valerie is alive,” Kangala Wildlife Rescue stated in an announcement on social media final week. She was noticed about 10 miles from the place she disappeared, in Stokes Bay, and was recognized, partially, by her pink collar.
Efforts at the moment are underway to rescue the dachshund, however that has proved tough. “She runs on the first signal of people or automobiles and regardless of the very best efforts of devoted island locals, Valerie has been not possible to catch,” the wildlife rescue stated.
“We’re utilizing surveillance and varied trapping and luring strategies within the space she was final seen to try to deliver her dwelling,” the assertion stated. “This can be a tiny canine in an enormous space, and we’ll need assistance from the general public to report any sightings and a whole lot of luck.”
On Thursday, a person who recognized himself as “Jared, one of many Kangala staff members that’s concerned within the rescue mission for Valerie,” provided a heartening update in a video update: “We now have seen her. We’ve managed to slim down the search space to 1 particular level.”
“We have been initially skeptical, however we saved getting increasingly more sightings,” Mr. Fishlock advised “At this time.”
Her different proprietor, Georgia Gardner, told The Guardian: “She was not a really exterior, rough-and-tough canine. To suppose that she even went one night time exterior within the rain, oh my gosh. To suppose that she’s gone a yr and a half is unimaginable.”
Whereas the primary picture of a dachshund could be of a cute little wiener canine, the breed has some actual survival expertise.
“Dachshunds aren’t constructed for distance working, leaping, or strenuous swimming, however in any other case these tireless hounds are sport for something,” the American Kennel Club says in its description of the breed. “Bred to be an unbiased hunter of harmful prey, they are often courageous to the purpose of rashness.”
The wildlife rescue stated, “We hope to have the ability to replace you all with a tremendous end result.”
