Sherry Ostrov describes the six weeks in which her dog Bug went missing as the worst time in her life.
“I went through ups and downs where I was positive that we were going to get her back and everything was going to be great and then I would go through a period where I’m like, ‘She’s dead. She’s gone. I’m never going to see her again,’” says Ostrov. “I don’t wish it on anybody.”
Ostrov says she came home from work on Dec 3., one day after Bug’s 10th birthday, but the dog was nowhere to be found.
Though she is still shocked at the possibility, Ostrov suspects Bug got a hold of a chunk of fence in the backyard and ripped through it.
“Panic, disbelief, you’re kind of frozen. You don’t even know what to do,” she says.
At the time, they had only lived in their home in Boutilier’s Point, N.S., for two weeks.
“This wasn’t really home to her. This wasn’t an area that she knew at all, so I think that was part of the contributing factor that once she got out and started running around, it wasn’t like she could turn around and come home because she didn’t really know where home was,” says Ostrov.
She jumped into high gear and began contacting family and friends to help her find Bug.
“We started driving around, walking around, calling her name, using squeaky toys, using treat bags,” she says.
As the weeks went on with no sign of Bug, Ostrov says she began to lose hope.
But things took a positive turn when she met Nicole Pearson-Bearing, a lost animal recovery technician.
Ostrov says there were many things she learned about how the search for her dog could be intensified.
“You have to let them know everything, there are things that when you’re in a panic state or in shock, you don’t even know what information they need,” says Ostrov.
“I didn’t know that (Nicole) needed immediately to know (about) sightings… who called them in, where they were. Most of the time I wasn’t asking the right questions.”
“For the most part, our success rates are quite high,” says Pearson-Bearing. “My biggest fear especially at this time of year is open bodies of water and traffic.”
Pearson-Bearing says she was confident that Bug would be brought home.
“I always say a lost dog is only ever lost when someone stops searching. And we never underestimate their survival skills,” she says.
Over the next weeks, they focused on putting up more posters and monitoring sightings.
As a last resort, they set up a baited trap with all kinds of food.
They used cameras to monitor Bug’s movements and say at times it was difficult, because of how remote the location was where people would reportedly see her.
But on Jan 15., Bug crawled in the trap and was brought home.
“When I watched her go into the trap, I didn’t believe it. I sat there and went, ‘that didn’t just happen,’” says Ostrov.
Bug had been spotted near and far, including in Timberlea and Hubbards.
Ostrov says she lost 45 pounds, but that she’s been gradually getting better.
“She gained back about 10 pounds... (she’s) got a little way to go but she’s doing really good considering. Ten years old is old for an English Mashtem, which is what she is, so it’s pretty amazing that she’s come through it like this,” says Ostrov.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
