'I was so excited': Dog reunited with family 7 days after falling from cliff on Vancouver Island
'I was so excited': Dog reunited with family 7 days after falling from cliff on Vancouver Island
A beloved pet that went missing in the Highlands area of Vancouver Island was found seven days later by an army of volunteers.
The mastiff-retriever cross, named Luna, was found desperately clinging to a narrow ledge on a cliff, and was reunited with her owner after a heroic rescue last month.
It's believed that Luna had chased an animal out of her yard and got lost, somehow falling off a cliff and landing on a two-foot wide ledge. She remained there, alone, as her owner and searchers frantically looked for her.
"It was terrible because it was getting colder and she always sleeps next to me or my daughter," said Saryta Schaerer, Luna's owner.
After she'd been missing for several days, there was a break in the case from the other side of Finlayson Arm.
Across the water, Ron Cheeke had heard Luna's cries for help.
Ron Cheeke is pictured. (CTV News)Cheeke decided to record the sound and notify the pet rescue group ROAM. He even went so far as to search the area on boat to try to locate the exact source of the sound.
"I used a pot and pan, and every time I banged on the pot and pan the dog barked back," Cheeke told CTV News on Monday.
Eventually, after searching on both water and land, a team found the scared dog and used a harness to pull her back to safety and to her owner.
"I almost fell over when I saw her, it was quite exciting," said Schaerer.
"I was so excited, she was too," said the dog owner. "Her butt was wiggling from left to right."
Cheeke says his own dog had died recently and he was motivated to help.
"I lost my dog last year, so it was good," said an emotional Cheeke.
"It's good to see it back with its owners," he said.
ROAM volunteer Andy Carswell says seeing the reunion was thanks enough for all of the days spent searching.
"There's no feeling like it. When you're involved with this and you get the owner back with the pet, it's worth all the money in the world," he said.
Carswell also has a message for other pet owners if their animal goes missing.
"Your dog's out there, it's just a matter of time until we get her," he said.
"Sometimes they come back in an hour, sometimes it's a day, sometimes its seven, like Luna," he said. "Just don't give up, have faith."
He added that Luna didn't give up while trapped alone in the cold for seven days, and that pet owners shouldn't give up on their animals as well.
W5 goes deep into the narco heartland to interview a commander with one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. W5's documentary 'Narco Avocados' airs Saturday at 7 pm on CTV.
When selling a home, Canadians may be exempted from paying capital gains tax on a residential property -- if it's their principal residence. On CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains what's determined as a principal residence, and what properties are eligible for the exemption.
Health Canada says it will continue to recommend COVID-19 prevention drug, Evulsheld, despite U.S. FDA pulling back its emergency use authorization due to concerns around its efficacy against Omicron subvariant 'Kraken.'
Memphis authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots and batons as he screamed for his mother and pleaded, ''I'm just trying to go home.'
Aryna Sabalenka, a 24-year-old from Belarus, who won her first Grand Slam title by coming back to beat Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 at Melbourne Park on Saturday night, using 17 aces among her 51 total winners to overcome seven double-faults.
With a deal under negotiation between Ottawa and provinces, and premiers invited to a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early February, the issue remains one where the Tory leader's position appears somewhat murky, including to some inside his own party.
A Palestinian gunman opened fire outside an east Jerusalem synagogue Friday night, killing seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, and wounding three others before he was shot and killed by police, officials said.
Using phones and tablets to communicate in encrypted chatrooms, a rapidly growing group of U.S. and allied troops and contractors are providing real-time maintenance advice -- usually speaking through interpreters -- to Ukrainian troops on the battlefield.
The chief of the Williams Lake First Nation says he would support excavating possible unmarked graves at the site of the former St. Joseph's Mission residential school if that's what elders and the community decide is best.
In a season marked by loss and frustration, the Russian forward with the dimpled grin, gravity defying hair and enthusiastic goal celebrations has been a rare bright spot both on and off the ice.
The self-proclaimed spiritual leader accused of sexually assaulting four of his female followers between 2017 and 2020 made his first court appearance in Edmonton.
New details have emerged in an ongoing civil lawsuit against the City of Leduc as court documents detail allegations that women working as firefighters experienced systemic discrimination and sexual assault.
An Alberta government email review of whether Premier Danielle Smith’s office interfered with Crown prosecutors has taken a confusing turn, with duelling statements from two spokespeople on what was investigated.
The transformation of a house in downtown Toronto – from a multi-unit with below market rent to a luxury single-family home – is not an anomaly. But rather, housing and legal experts say it is emblematic of why a housing crisis continues to grip the city.
While the deadline to file your taxes is months away, there are some personal tax credits Ontarians may qualify for that require some time pilfering through receipts to get them.
Tyler Toffoli and the Calgary Flames rebounded from one of their ugliest losses of the season and picked up an important two points in the Pacific Division before starting the All-Star break.
A Laval, Que. man considered one of Canada's most wanted criminals has been arrested in Mexico on allegations of pimping and serious sexual offences. A Canada-wide warrant was for Blake Charbonneau's arrest last year, with a reward of up to $50,000 offered last year for information that could lead to his capture.
On Jan. 29, 2017, six men were killed and five others injured shortly after evening prayer at the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Centre. Montrealers gathered Friday to commemorate the victims and call for action amid a rise in hate crimes.
The Francois Legault government announced the formation of an interdepartmental 'action group' on the French language to find ways to halt the 'decline' of the language in Quebec.
The Halifax Thunderbirds hosted its annual Every Child Matters night Friday, which included a pre-game ceremony to draw attention to and honour the victims and survivors of Canada’s residential school system.
Record collectors in Newfoundland will have a chance Saturday to paw through selections from the vast vinyl library belonging to 98-year-old radio station VOWR.
While the deadline to file your taxes is months away, there are some personal tax credits Ontarians may qualify for that require some time pilfering through receipts to get them.
A Saskatchewan man who had his charges stayed based on pandemic delays in court will be headed back for trial, after a ruling from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
Three downtown business organizations are advocating for the City of Regina to locate a new multi-purpose events centre and central library branch in the downtown core.
The head of the Canada Revenue Agency says it 'wouldn't be worth the effort' to fully review $15.5 billion in potentially ineligible pandemic wage benefit payments flagged by Canada's Auditor General.
Barrie Colts owner Howie Campbell, as well as the captain and alternate captain of the Colts, Brandt Clarke and Jacob Frasca visited the two patients at RVH this week.
The manager of a Tim Hortons in North Bay was wrong to fire a long-term employee because of her physical limitations, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has ruled.
W5 goes deep into the narco heartland to interview a commander with one of Mexico's most brutal cartels. W5's documentary 'Narco Avocados' airs Saturday at 7 pm on CTV.
The body of a 29-year-old Sudbury nurse was recovered Wednesday night from a lake near Parry Sound after her snowmobile went through the ice, police say.
Ron Cheeke is pictured. (CTV News)Cheeke decided to record the sound and notify the pet rescue group ROAM. He even went so far as to search the area on boat to try to locate the exact source of the sound.
