Nanaimo lost dog captured after 73 days on the loose
A four-year-old border collie has been captured after 73 days on the loose on Vancouver Island, much to the relief of a volunteer organization that was tracking the animal’s movements.
Jill Oakley, owner of Find Lost and Escaped Dogs Vancouver Island (FLED), says Rigby took off from his Nanaimo foster home on Jan. 25 and experienced a harrowing journey before he was caught by volunteers on April 9.
“He went from Nanaimo to Cedar to Cassidy back to Nanaimo, up to Parksville and back to Nanaimo,” Oakley says.
Oakley believes Rigby followed the railroad tracks a lot of the time. She isn’t sure how he managed to avoid being hit by vehicles during his many days on the run.
She says the first four years of Rigby’s life were not good.
“He was in a hoarding situation in Denver, Colorado, and came out with 60 dogs," she says. "He was seized by authorities down there, that’s the story we got."
He was brought to Nanaimo and was adopted to a home and lasted eight days before taking off on Jan. 25.
“We were called on the 26th and we had been tracking him all this time," she says. "Several times we thought we had him when he came into Cassidy and when he went into a farmer’s field."
The FLED group sets up feeding stations and traps with cameras to try to capture the animals.
“We thought we had him for sure in February, for sure, but he outwitted us,” she says.
Rigby was also captured on a doorbell camera at the beginning of April in the driveway of a home.
“That is what’s so tough," she says. "You see him and then you get everybody ready to go and you get your equipment up there and ready to go and he’s gone. It was really a tough case."
Now that he is safely back in human hands, Oakley says her group will try to calm Rigby down. He will also have vet and grooming appointments later this week.
“He’s been a little freaky boy ever since he got here," she says. "If I gave him the chance he would be gone again. He’s in that kind of mode right now. He’s a complicated little soul."
Oakley is calling Rigby the group’s latest success story, proving that owners should never give up on their missing animals, she says.
“He’s like the Littlest Hobo," she says. "We had five just amazing volunteers helping us out up in Nanaimo and if it wasn’t for them I don’t know that we would have been able to track him as good as we did."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Father who killed one-year-old son with axe may be allowed to travel in southwestern Ontario
A Mennonite father who killed his one-year-old son with an axe may be allowed to travel to parts of southern Ontario in the coming months
Panama prepares to evacuate first island in face of rising sea level
On a tiny island off Panama's Caribbean coast, about 300 families are packing their belongings in preparation for a dramatic change. Generations of Gunas who have grown up on Gardi Sugdub in a life dedicated to the sea and tourism will trade that next week for the mainland’s solid ground.
Trump election victory 'very unlikely,' but 'possible': former FBI director Comey
Former FBI director James Comey says while he believes former U.S. president Donald Trump "will be defeated" in the upcoming presidential election, he doesn’t think it’s a given.
Robert Pickton stabbed with toothbrush and broken broom handle: victim's family
The family of one of Robert Pickton's victims says the convicted serial killer suffered an incredibly violent death at the hands of another inmate.
'It feels like freedom': Why some Albertans like going nude in nature
Few people can say they accidentally purchased a nude beach — but Shelley can. When she saw a piece of land she could fondly remember camping on was up for sale, she inquired about it and ended up purchasing it. She soon found that there were already inhabitants on it.
This Calgary home has a giant tree in the middle, and it's for sale
There's a luxury 'tree home' for sale in Calgary.
WestJet ordered to pay B.C. traveller $1,300 for a missed flight connection
A B.C. traveller will receive more than $1,300 in compensation from WestJet for a missed flight connection following a decision from the province's small claims tribunal.
Jennifer Lopez cancels summer tour: 'I am completely heartsick and devastated'
Jennifer Lopez has cancelled her 2024 North American tour, representatives for Live Nation confirmed to The Associated Press.
2 children among 5 people hospitalized after head-on crash on Hwy. 417 in Ottawa's west end
Two young children and three adults were seriously injured in a major collision on Highway 417 between Palladium Drive and Carp Road in Ottawa's west end Friday afternoon.