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!

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.

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

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.

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.

There is no way for us at Loved At Last Dog Rescue to adequately thank ROAM and Terry and Barb and their amazingly dedicated volunteers for their tireless efforts and commitment to catching Stella. This fearful girl had been rescued from a life as a stray in the streets of Iran only to escape from her foster home. We despaired that Stella could ever be caught. But then we didn’t know about ROAM’s experience, skill and most importantly their refusal to quit until the dog is caught. Even though FLED had been asked first to search for Stella it was ROAM who kept in constant contact with us with updates about sightings of Stella. We quickly realized that Stella’s best chance of being caught lay with ROAM. I doubt Terry and Barb slept more than a four hours a night since Stella’s escape. It became readily apparent to me that it wasn’t a matter of if ROAM caught Stella but when. And despite our repeated offers to make a donation Terry and Barb preferred that the money be used to help rescue other homeless dogs like Stella. And if all this wasn’t enough, Terry and Barb have also offered to help us find an adoptive home for Stella in the Victoria area. Amazing! Thank you, thank you, thank you ROAM. You are the best!

We would like to thank you and your organization for the amazing work in reuniting lost cats and dogs. In spite of losing almost 4 lbs, 1/2 of her body weight, Munchkin is fine, no cuts or scratches she is home safe and sound. Pat and John August 19, 2020

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!

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!!!!!!