This is a very sincere thank you to ROAM for the excellent and immediate response I received when I contacted Lesli to report that my cat Mugsy was missing. After my week of fruitless searching, Lesli, through her contacts, already had a picture of Mugsy on the ROAM web site and I was able to focus my search where he was last sighted. Getting him back that night was wonderful. Thanks again to ROAM and everyone who contributed to his return with their words of encouragement.

What amazing people/service 🙂 Alan is my brothers dog- i had let him out this afternoon 2pm with out his collar:(- he slipped into the park and was gone- i was searching for hours for him before my brother got home – he arrived home and i broke him the news- its the worst feeling-we had paused our searched efforts in hopes he would find his way back- he was too lost -we made some calls and got in touch with roam- these people were on the scene within an hour -they were everywhere searching for hours- they kept in contact with me the whole time- and were relentless with there search – they had Alan back by 7pm before dark- what an amazing feeling- i owe roam bigtime – if you ever lose your pet – you need these people on your side- unreal service- thank you soo much!!!!!!

Our sweet little girl was brought home to us last night thanks in no small part to the folks at ROAM. We were put in touch with Terry by Lesley at Helping Paws Okanagan to help us bring home our missing dog and he was nothing short of exceptional – he was available anytime day or night, answered all our questions, laid out a clear plan that was way to follow, and spoke with a certainty and a confidence that was so reassuring. He kept us calm and focused on what we needed to do to get her back. What you do and the knowledge you have is truly a gift to animal lovers everywhere! Thank you so much Terry and ROAM – we could not have done it without you!

Ricky has been FOUND!! Thank you so much to Barb, Terry, and everyone else who helped us last night and this morning! We can’t thank you enough! We’re so grateful that Ricky is home safe and sound. We will be ROAM volunteers from here on out. Thanks again!

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.

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

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

All the way from Parliament Hill, in our Nations Capital, I want to say, thank you to ROAM for your volunteers, and for all they do for others helping find our loved, 4 legged fury kids. Your kindness and care for our missing pets is more than appreciated. Thank you for “being there” for us and Cholo..who is now, home safe and sound, in his Mama’s arms. Words can not thank you enough. Thank you…over and over again.