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.

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

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 🙂

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!! 💕💕💕🐶

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 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.

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.

My family cannot possibly thank all of you enough!!!! ROAM admin & volunteers were so truly amazing through this whole experience. Working so closely with Victoria Animal Control Services who were also absolutely wonderful! Passing out posters, Tigo ‘chits’, driving, walking, sharing on social media and with people in the neighborhood. Working with our family and friends who were stressed and scared and had no idea what to do. You all were so calm, reassuring, present, knowledgeable, and patient with us. We are truly overwhelmed by how our community came together for us, perfect strangers, on Christmas (!!), to find our lost puppy. Tigo made his way home because of all of your hard work over a solid 24hr period. With all of our hearts we thank you!!!!

Dear ROAM, How can we possibly express our gratitude to the ROAM team?? Our cat Blue went missing 1.5 years ago and you are the reason he is back home with our family today. We rescued blue when he was a kitten through Dee’s Orphan Kitten Fund. He was found in a dumpster downtown with a broken tail. He instantly became a part of our family and a best friend to our daughter (age 2.5 at the time). He was the sweetest, most beautiful cat we had ever seen. We had 3 years with Blue until Boxing Day of 2018 when he went outside and didn’t return. With your help we posted missing posters everywhere and searched for months on end. I remember one member of your team encouraging me not to give up hope, that her cat had gone missing for 10 months and was found safe and healthy. We kept up hope for about a year before we started to realize he wasn’t coming back. That didn’t stop our daughter Hayden. She continued to talk about Blue regularly. Almost every picture she’d draw and every story she’d write in her school journal was about Blue. Two days ago when you texted me that picture of him I literally could not believe my eyes. A year and a half later???!  The staff at the Point Ellis House where Blue had been spotted were so accommodating and helpful. The fact that you had him trapped within 24 hours is unbelievable!!! You were all so excited…. it’s extremely obvious how dedicated you all are to your cause. Blue is back home today and it’s like he never left. You warned me he could be frightened for a while which is what I also expected but the second I called his name he came right into my arms. Hayden has her best friend back thanks to you and we look forward to having many more years with him! I don’t think I could ever EVER express how grateful we are for what you have done for us. We will never forget this!!! Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️ Leanne, Nick & Hayden