Runaway SPCA PV Dog Recovered After Seven Months on the Loose in Canada Viola Pruss - St. Albert Gazette
go to original November 23, 2013

Lisa Hoff is running on two hours of sleep.

She’s just spent the night looking after the timid, black dog cowering in a crate in her bathroom. Hoff was afraid the small, lab-whippet mix might somehow escape. Plus, she just wanted to spend some time with the dog.

It’s been seven months since Sydney, the Mexican rescue dog, ran away from home. During that time Hoff and other local volunteers spent countless hours looking for her.

Sydney finally turned up in Entwistle on Wednesday.

“She had been living there probably since the summer,” Hoff said.

Sydney’s story

Sydney’s story began in the streets of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on the night of Sunday Oct. 21, 2012. A volunteer of the local SPCA saw the frightened dog, which was unable to stand or walk, hiding under a car and coaxed her out.

Workers at the SPCA Puerto Vallarta suspected that a car had hit the dog that day but Sydney also had an old back injury that caused her to develop arthritis.

Pain medications and care at the sanctuary eventually brought about her physical and emotional recovery. So the SPCA offered her up for adoption.

Late at night on April 30, 2013, Sydney flew into the Edmonton International Airport where she was met by her adopted owner. When her owner returned from shopping the next day, Sydney bolted out the door. She had spent only 16 hours at her new home in St. Albert.

A long time searching

Since then her trackers, led by SPCA Puerto Vallarta volunteer Robin McCaffry, have spent days and nights trying to find the elusive little dog. Sydney was often spotted wandering the streets across the city: hiding in ravines, feeding from dumpsters, even running down St. Albert Trail.

The volunteers tried to track her with dogs, put up cameras, posted hundreds of posters, and set out food. They brought in volunteers from the SPCA in Mexico who knew Sydney, thinking she would react to familiar voices.

Even a canine psychic aided in the search, relaying a message that “Sydney was aware of their efforts but she was doing just fine, thanks!”

By mid-summer, more than 100 people had searched for her. In September, the reward for finding her had grown to $10,000.

“We got a lot of calls … and whenever we would go to the sightings it would be black labs or the wrong dog or we would go and couldn’t find her,” said Hoff. “I don’t know how long she’s been in Entwistle.”

When Sydney was finally discovered almost 100 kilometres from St. Albert, Hoff wouldn’t get her hopes up, in case it was the wrong dog. None of the local volunteers had ever met Sydney in person, she said.

“I studied the pictures, but it not being your dog, how do you really know?” she said.

Bologna and wieners

Two women first discovered Sydney living under some trees in Entwistle, Hoff said. The dog would not let them close enough to catch her, but when the weather turned cold the women decided to feed her bologna and wieners to earn her trust.

They also noticed that Sydney had befriended another neighbourhood dog, she said. So one day this week, they coaxed both dogs into a garage and closed the doors behind them.

“They called Parkland County bylaw who picked her up and then I saw the picture posted on their Facebook page and called right away,” Hoff said.

Hoff set up a meeting via webcam with the SPCA Puerto Vallarta to verify that the small, black dog at the shelter was in fact the one they were looking for.

She had it all: The white patches on the back paws, the small notches on her ears, the white muzzle and the little flecks on her head. What really gave it away though was her reaction to one of her Mexican caregivers calling her name, said Hoff.

“When she called her she started looking around for the voice that she knows. So we knew it was her,” Hoff said.

The women who found her prefer to remain anonymous, she added. It’s unclear whether they will accept the reward.

Going back to Mexico

Now that Sydney has been recovered, it will take a long time to get her used to people again, Hoff said. Instead of moving in with a new family, she will find a home with one of the St. Albert volunteers who spends half the year in Mexico.

Sydney was scheduled to board a plane this morning back to Puerto Vallarta, where she will remain for the winter, said Hoff.

“It’s soon to go but she has arthritis in her back leg and the cold is really bothering her,” she said. “And to be honest, that sanctuary is the only place she ever felt safe. She never lived in a home.”

Hoff said she’s sometimes felt bad that the volunteers have devoted so much time to finding one dog when there are so many others needing their help. But Sydney matters, like they all do, she said.

“It’s been a long seven months and I am glad it’s over, I’ll be honest,” she said. “She is sweet. She needs to go some place quiet and learn to trust people.”

  Learn about SPCA Puerto Vallarta