All we can say is wow! How this all played out tonight was not how we imagined it would go down. But I’m glad it did…. Jeny and I were talking with another neighbor outside for about 15 minutes after Terry and Barb left. Chewy must have been the first to hear the jingling of Rusty’s collar, then Jeny, then me. Chewy walked around Joel’s house and brought our Rusty to us…. It was so surreal. But the the real people who helped bring our family back together again was all the wonderful people from ROAM, and all the wonderful community from WP. ROAM is a great family as well! Thank you to Lesli, Rachel, Dixie, Carrie, Deb, Cyndi and Michelle for all your countless hours of spotting, putting posters up, placing signs all over the place! Cory and Bailey…. Thank you! I know this was just as hard on you two as it was on us. You stayed with us and also stayed positive always helping with our search. Communicating with us in the early days was crucial to helping find Rusty! Donna and Andy…. what can we say? You two have been there right from the beginning, you offered to help when you didn’t have to… you opened your home to us and made us feel welcome… you opened your hearts. For that, we are for ever grateful for the both of you. Joel And Katyanna…. you had strangers creeping around your house and you welcomed us because you also experienced losing Petme. You paid it forward and we thank you for that! George and Nette, George was always there to support our family. From bringing us dinner in the woods, to giving up his favourite chocolate almonds,or hiking through the woods searching. And of course my tiny little older sister who has the largest heart that I’ve ever seen. She hiked hours on end and was the first who suspected the howling dog was Rusty, which she was right! She never gave up…. As she said, family never gives up on each other. Terry and Barb…. there’s no word that we can say that can fully describe how thankful we are for your help. Your experience and advice helped us stay calm and gave us hope to never give up! You kept us involved with every decision, every strategy and assured us we will find him. With out you, I don’t know if would have ever found Rusty. You didn’t just help us find a dog, you helped us find a lost family member who to me is one of my kids! I would be lost without him! Thank you all so much!   Moises and Jeny

ROAM was our rock during the 98-day stretch our dog Olive was out on her own. The amount of effort the volunteers put in to her homecoming was absolutely amazing! They helped canvas neighborhoods, drove around at all hours, postered endlessly, organized a search party, set up feed stations equipped with cameras and delicious meats, watched live traps that had been customized with her fear of metal in mind, and constantly offered us their support and encouragement. Terry even flew to Arizona to pick up the remote-operated drop net used to capture her! At that time, Olive was regularly going to a feed station situated along a busy roadway. We were all concerned that her luck might run out with so much nearby traffic and the potential time lost with shipping was what prompted Terry’s flight. It really is impossible to put in to words everything ROAM did for us. Olive did not make capture an easy task! She moved neighborhoods frequently (View Royal, Colwood, Sidney, & Brentwood Bay), ran from any approach, and refused to go in to any trap as she had been trapped in the past. No matter how hopeless things felt at times, giving up was not an option considered by us or ROAM. We are so thankful that such a dedicated and positive group of people exists and were able to resolve this difficult case. It is an absolute pleasure to have our wild “little monkey” home again. Thank you Terry, Barb, Lesli, Rachel, Cyndi, Linda, Barry, Darlene…and all of the rest of the ROAM volunteers! You guys are the best.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the people you have helped and supported. Operating a service available at no cost to animal owners at a time of need and hearing about your contribution from a fellow dog owner. You are well appreciated, have been successful in your mantra and are COMPLETELY APPRECIATED BY THE LIVES YOU TOUCH AND THOSE THAT HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE YOU AVAILABLE IF NEED BE. THANK YOU FOR DEMONSTRATING THE GOOD AND GREATER GOOD IN YOUR SERVICE TO OUR COMMUNITY. MORE THAN 5 STARS AND A STANDING OVATION, KEEP DOING WHAT YOUR DOING. Holly B

We can thank ROAM enough to bringing Shiloh home tonight…..they were so helpful and even figured that someone likely picked her up(and thankful to the people who picked up Shiloh)….which was exactly what happened and kept in contact with me to keep me up to date with exactly what was going on….so wonderful to know there is groups out here to help bring animals home I know without their help we would not have Shiloh home with us tonight…forever grateful HUGE thank you ROAM from us and Shiloh

When our cat Harry disappeared, we were referred to ROAM.BC (amongst others) by our vet and found their quick response & organization incredible; from offering a ready-to-print poster and tips on how to help logically coax your animal home (when emotions flood in) and separate personal support emails, we felt the fortification of much encouragement! We had no idea there was such a service! Thankfully he arrived home on his own and ROAMBC’s closure was one of kind elation! A huge huge thank you for your readiness and help! – Faye

Wow! What a team! THANK YOU SO MUCH to ALL who went out of their way to make this happen! It’s a great lesson on why community is SO important in this day and age. THIS experience is what makes ‘paying it forward’ happen! See how easy it is!! Everyone take note of this… The ingredients of compassion, common sense, perseverance, faith in your work, camaraderie, empathy, mutual support, came together here in a way rarely seen in public view. We can ALL learn a LOT from how these folks work together and how well they convey confidence, empathy, reassurance and… common sense to those that need their help! The selflessness is underappreciated and undervalued too much in our society. THIS is TRUE Leadership in action! ROAM doesn’t just talk about it – you ALL practice it – daily! I’m eternally grateful, I’m going to pay it forward by volunteering for any similar programs over here where we live. I hope this success story brings hope and faith to all the future pet parents and owners who experience a lost or missing pet and the fears, guilt and anxieties that come along with it. I can assure you – you are in the best hands possible!! PLEASE DONATE where you can!! If the principles of commitment and teamwork that ROAM has clearly mastered (yet still keeping everything uncomplicated) were to be used more throughout our communities… the outcomes would be something amazing, there’s a lot more to learn from this than meets the eye! Because of that… ROAM has got something MUCH bigger happening than what we actually see! There are PHD’s out there that study these sorts of phenomena!! I encourage all who read this (and the many other stories and posts on the ROAM sites) to DONATE and share these stories. YOU ARE BUILDING COMMUNITY BY GIVING TO THIS GROUP and the benefits are immediate! If you are someone who currently has a missing pet, have faith, it means you are confident in the universe (other people). Don’t underestimate the value of pets and their compassionate and dedicated owners.

Thanks to Terry and co. for working with Good Samaritan (Dan) to help capture and return Smokey, our very sly and speedy sled-dog. Even more importantly, thank you for understanding our plight and helping to educate and encourage us rather than chastising us or suggesting that we give up on our dog. We adopted Smokey knowing that she has serious issues to work through, but we did so because she is an excellent physical and emotional companion for our son, who has also had a very difficult time making it through elementary and middle-school with his self-esteem intact. In giving Smokey what she needs, we are also providing our son with the motivation and example he desperately needs to take good care of both his dog and himself.

I just want to say thank you so much to the Lesli, Roam team, the couple who found him and everyone who helped. Frankie is such a sweet boy, and is loved by all of us at the Rescue. It is so great to have the support of Roam and the community when something like this happens. Frankie is a tired little boy and is resting after his big adventure today!!

A huge thank you goes out to this organization, the people behind it, and the compassionate service they provide.  I am beyond grateful.  When my little dog Ruby was scared off running by a hang glider that appeared over some trees in an off leash park, I was completely distraught when I couldn’t catch her and then eventually lost sight of her.  I am new to Victoria and didn’t know anyone to help me so after calling animal control I continued to search.  Then I remembered hearing about this organization Roam and gave them a call.  I was crying and not sure if they could understand me, but they took the time to get the information and post immediately on the website with Ruby’s picture.  Within another hour I had Ruby safely back in my arms.  It was through this organization that we found each other again so quickly.   We don’t tend to think about these things happening and I’m quite sure I never want to experience that terrifying feeling again.  But it is nice to know this service is available for pet owners and I can testify that it works!  The compassion and calm of Barb on the other end of the phone and the follow up happy texts went above and beyond any of my expectations.  Once again, beyond grateful.