A group of West Vancouver city workers are over the moon after rescuing a six-month-old puppy that had been missing in the forests of Cypress Mountain for three weeks.
And dog's owner, Garry Mancell, a Coquitlam Search and Rescue volunteer, can’t believe Maisie has been returned to him after all this time.
“I was stunned, I was absolutely stunned,” said Mancell, who raced from his Anmore home to Squamish to be reunited with his labrador-coon hound mix, which was thin and dehydrated but excited to see him and and his wife, Anne Mancell.
The story of the rescue is about a community of dog lovers that came together to find the pup, which disappeared after Mancell was in a car accident July 3 on the Upper Levels Highway near the Caulfield exit.
For days, Canine Valley, a dog education company, kept track of sightings and followed up on each tip using special search techniques so as not to scare the skittish pup.
But just when Mancell thought he would never see Maisie again, word came that a group of West Vancouver city workers managed to recapture the lost canine.
It was a day to remember for the municipal crew.
“We were all pretty excited. It was pretty big news for everyone around here after the dog was missing for 21 days in the bush,” said Kristen Walters, who works at the city operations yard on Cypress Bowl Road.
She said an equipment operator spotted the dog Wednesday morning and, when other workers came to check it out, they recognized Maisie from the missing dog posters that had been plastered around the community.
Canine Valley was called and “they advised us to just keep an eye on her and make sure she was staying in the area because she has been known to [flee] the scene in previous rescue attempts,” Walter said.
When Canine Valley owner Valley Calderoni arrived, everyone pitched in to hand over the dog, water bucket style, until the dog was carried down the steep rock pile where it was found.
“You could tell the dog was pretty dehydrated and tired,” Walters told The Tri-City News. "We were just trying to make sure she didn’t get spooked."
Mancell said he’s thrilled to have Maisie back and the reunion was particularly special because the dog not only remembered the couple but was strong enough to lick him and his wife with enthusiasm before collapsing in exhaustion.
“It was instant recognition,” Mancell said.
Maisie is now recuperating at his daughter’s veterinary office in Squamish.
