Donate to ROAM
Due to the fact that ROAM is 100% volunteer driven, we greatly appreciate donations to aid us in attaining the much needed equipment and supplies for our searches. While we have personally purchased a good portion of the equipment needed, we can definitely use a few more traps, slip leashes, safety vests and other such things. Paper, ink, fuel, bait-food and other supplies are very expensive and most certainly add up for both the owner, and the ROAM searchers and volunteers. We most often assist owners of lost dogs (in particular), to flood the area with posters of their lost dog so that he/she has the best chance of being ‘seen’ by the general public. Any monies collected will go to either our ‘ROAM Supply Fund’ to help offset some of these costs for our admins and volunteers and the ‘ROAMER Fund’. This fund will be specifically geared at assisting the owners of dogs or cats (posted on ROAM), who may have been injured while out on their own. This will be an emergency fund that may enable ROAM to give the ‘go-ahead’ to a vet to begin emergency/comfort treatment on an animal (in the absence of an owner), or where the owner is not immediately able to come up with the required funds to begin emergency treatment for their pet.
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
Faye
Reuniting Owners with Animals Missing
I have loved and had dogs all my life. My partner and I just last week acquired the most beautiful standard poodle named Lena. She is three years old and she came from a lovely horse farm in Nova Scotia. Her former mom has been a breeder of standard poodles for over 30 years and she is one of my best friends. Lena had been selected to be a breeding bitch but it didn’t work out. Apparently she didn’t like male dogs! So my friend knew I was wanting a new dog after our beloved standard died a few months ago. And she offered us Lena and we jumped at the chance. Lena had only been with us for TWO days when she was lost. On Thursday Nov 2nd she flew from Halifax to Vancouver. She had not only a 4,000 mile plane ride BUT she had a 1.5 hour drive from her former home in NS. And most importantly, she was left by her obviously very sad former mom of 3 years. What an incredibly stressful day for a dog. Then on Thursday evening she was handed over to us in Vancouver and we drove to a hotel. Lena had never been in a hotel before and the sweet natured jet lagged dog quietly settled down on the bed. She even had a small supper! Next day, Friday, we departed for the ferry terminal and she had her first ride on the ferry. We stayed in the car with her and she enjoyed the ride. Once back home in Victoria we introduced her to her new home and that night she slept for hours. ROAM came into our lives Saturday morning. I had taken her out for a pee break and naively–when she hadn’t peed for 14 hours–I took her off the leash just to pee. We were in an enclosed fence park, very small with two exits. A strange dog SUDDENLY out of nowhere bolted up to her JUST as she finished peeing (she was literally off the leash for no more than 2 minutes) AND she froze, jumped backward and then ran. Her fear of the dog was so great that nothing I could do worked. I ran after her for three blocks down a city street but I lost sight of her. Everyone in the neighborhood called out encouragingly as I ran down the sidewalk in search of her. In about 10 minutes I reached Beacon Hill Park, across the street from my home. I ran home hoping she might have come to our front door. No luck. I then ran back towards the park realizing it was the first walk I had taken her on and IF she was as smart as I thought she was–she would remember it. I also thought it most resembled the pastoral area where she grew up. Fortunately for me I met the most lovely woman and 3 dogs number in her contact list. Terry, the acknowledged search wizard at ROAM, got the call from his dispatcher, and apparently dropped everything at home and bolted out the door so quickly his wife Barb didn’t know what was happening! Meanwhile I was desperately retracing my first walk in the park with Lena hoping to spot her. As I ran through the park, I heard from many people Lena had been running from everyone who tried to help catch her. I even saw her with my own eyes and called out to her and she ran AS FAST AS SHE COULD in the other direction. I was devastated. Then I realized she was so traumatized that nothing could calm her down. At some point in the 4 hour search for Lena, my partner, Darrell, ran to the fire department in James Bay behind our house. The fire men jumped in their truck with the largest ladder and drove to the highest point in the park. They put up the ladder (which I think extends 10 stories) and they had a perfect outlook and actually spotted her heading for Dallas Road. For those who don’t live here this is the most beautiful dog park in the city and it runs along the water.This turned out to be the next piece of good luck in a day that started in a very bad way. Between the Victoria Animal Control (VACs) (Matt) and ROAM (Terry and countless volunteers) they managed to finally locate and corner Lena at one end of Dallas Road. She was so scared of them she ran down a huge embankment but lucky for us, the beach meant she couldn’t run into the streets anymore. With more skill than I could imagine, Matt and Terry worked together like a well oiled machine and closed off Lena’s possible escape route from the beach. Total strangers walking along the trails stopped also to help block her from coming back up the hill into traffic. By this time she apparently was too tired to run up the embankment (thankfully!) and within minutes Terry had safely and securely captured her. To think that one frightened dog–so far from its original home–ran through traffic for almost four hours and escaped unharmed is nothing short of a miracle. Except that in reality it was the training, love of dogs, and common sense of many people that brought us to this happy conclusion. We will always be so grateful to ROAM and all the good people of Victoria who came together to save our dog. Lena I’m happy to report is unscathed by her terrifying adventure. She is now wearing a HALTER and I have a 20 foot training leash. She has been back to the park in my company and she is also enjoying her walks on Willows Beach. Because of her ordeal we’ve been spoiling her just a bit :). I can’t tell you how many times Saturday night I looked down to see her sleeping beside us and pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I could never imagine a dog surviving what she did–and totally unharmed. Thank you Terry and Matt and all the fabulous people at ROAM and all those kind strangers who pitched in to help us. Cindy T and Darrell B Victoria BC
Cynthia & Darrel
Words cannot express how grateful I am, you guys are absolutely amazing! Thank you thank you thank you! Saban is safe and sound and I couldn’t be more relieved.
Ella B
You guys may have only helped me for a day, but you gave me the strength and positivity to help me find my beautiful baby girl! I can’t thank you enough for everything you did, especially being so far away! You guys do an incredible thing, thanks again!!!
Kaitlyn (Langley BC)
I am so thankful for this organization :). I called them after Lacie was missing on our walk for 20 minutes, I called, whistled and retraced my steps but she was no where to be seen. Thank you to the lovely couple who found her and called ROAM.
Corine
My name is David, I lost my best friend Griffin this morning after searching and losing all hope I phoned the pound, police, fled search and to my amazement ROAM – Reuniting Owners with Animals Missing was at my door within 15 minutes with boots on the ground, after a quick detailed conversation about habits and characteristics of my best buddy griffin they went to work. After approximately 90 mins I started getting very depressed once more and then the phone rang Rachel had found my dog and brought him back immediately. My depression turned into inspiration from the people that had volunteered out of the goodness of their Hearts and I instantly need to repay them some how. When I asked what could I do to feel like I’ve contributed to ROAM she told me that a comment would be nice so here I am with a comment and I’m not sure I could ever put into words how I feel so I am going to volunteer once a month with ROAM to make this world a better place. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to “Rachel Terry Barb Leslie and all the other and volunteers I didn’t meet, u r the light at the end of my tunnel God bless griffin and I will never forget what u did for us and asked for nothing in return but simple😊 comment.
David S. (Griffin)
Ryder is safe and at home with us. Thank you to Terry and Rachel and all of the ROAM volunteers who contributed to the safe return of our dog. We had several sightings early this morning following the route I took while looking for him today. We found him at Ash and Edgemont and with Terry’s exceptional guidance were able to reunite with our boy. We cannot say thank you enough to all who helped and sent messages of support. ROAM as an organization was outstanding start to finish. We could not have done this without ROAM. I cannot praise them highly enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!💕
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Deb H
Thank you so much ROAM for helping me find my boy. Within no time the ad was up and you were giving me advice and support. I can not thank you enough for the efforts you put in and getting out there in the middle of the night to search! You are wonderful people and you’re doing an amazing job. Thank you from me and Kiedis! Time for a long nap 🙂
Kori R
We are so thankful for ROAM stepping in to help us find Hazel! We were in Toronto when we discovered our 10 lb rescue had spooked at a dog park & escaped, running for her life. The ROAM team deployed at our panicked request and stayed out in the wind & rain until late in the evening as they co-ordinated a search with our family, friends & community. Fortunately, and with great thanks to ROAM’s knowledge of how to handle scared dogs, Hazel only had to spend one night out in the cold. She was found safe the next day! Thank you ROAM for volunteering your time and energy to find our much-loved family member.
Kirsten F
ROAM – Reuniting Owners with Animals Missing is an absolute dream! I cannot thank everyone enough for the help provided – from the organizers to the volunteers to the Facebook friends. I didn’t know where to start, and you pointed me in the right direction, with the support and care that I so badly needed. I was overwhelmed with the help I received – I don’t ask for help easily and to have so many willing, caring strangers step up was more than I could’ve imagined. Thank you, thank you, thank you for bringing my love home! I’ve been telling everyone about ROAM and am so thankful to have learned about this amazing group of people.
Katie W