Heartbreak has turned into a happy tale for a family from Sooke.
They’ve been reunited with their dog Tanner two-and-a-half months after it was allegedly stolen from them – and the miraculous reunion happened entirely by coincidence.
The year-old lab mix went missing back in June, according to a post in the Facebook group “Missing Elsewhere in B.C. Dogs.”
Then on Aug. 17, Tanner’s owner Lisa Otteson posted an update confirming the family dog was found on a camping trip in Parksville, more than 100 kilometres north of where it went missing.
“It is nothing short of a miracle,” Otteson wrote. “We were camping over the weekend and found her!!!!! I am still in shock and I can’t believe it.”
The mother said she and her kids were out for a walk when they encountered somebody walking a dog strikingly similar to Tanner.
“I looked at Tanner and she looked at me and that was it!” she said.
Otteson said she believes her dog was stolen from under her family’s nose and resold, and that the person walking Tanner said they paid someone $350 for the animal.
“We are looking into what happened and hope the people who did this will be charged,” said Otteson.
SPCA spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk said the organization hadn’t been notified about the case, but said it’s not uncommon to see dogs taken in by animal control and get adopted out to new families after a waiting period.
It’s unclear whether RCMP are investigating.
