Dog missing for 5 weeks found on Vancouver Island
After more than a month of searching on Vancouver Island, a beloved dog that's trained to help its owner with her diabetes was located safe.
Daisy the Australian shepherd was found on Friday on a floating dock in Mill Bay, B.C.
The dog had been missing since May 12 after she went on a walk with her owner, Ciara Cownden, around Shawnigan Lake.
During the walk, Daisy managed to slip out of her GPS collar at the same time that something startled her, causing her to run into the woods.
The animal recovery group FLED helped search for the dog, with scattered reports of Daisy being sighted in the area.
On Friday, Daisy was found on the dock and was brought to a veterinarian. The dog spent the night in vet care and had lost about eight pounds, but is otherwise fine.
"[Searchers] just moved into the area, they were looking out on the dock there that was floating, and it was Daisy," said Gary Shade, co-founder of FLED.
"She'd fallen asleep," he told CTV News. "They figured the tide had come in and picked the dock up and was taking it out."
A volunteer who was nearby dove into the water and swam to the dock to retrieve Daisy.
"Once she saw Ciara, the owner, she just went all over, just ballistic," said Shade. "Just happy."
Ciara Cownden is shown. (CTV News)
Cownden has Type 1 diabetes and Daisy has been trained to help with tasks in case of an emergency, such as getting Cownden her blood sugar monitoring device, or retrieving a juice box if her blood sugar levels suddenly drop.
Daisy also helps with preventing her owner from panicking.
FLED says the search for Daisy was one of the hardest ones the group has worked on, since there were few reported sightings over the five weeks she had been missing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.