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
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.