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Caden is one lucky dog

Lost chihuahua found safe and almost sound after being lost for 15 days
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Caden recovers at Otter Point Veterinary Hospital from her adventures.

The mis-adventures of a chihuahua

 

Britt Santowski

Sooke News Mirror

A beloved chihuahua-cross owned by five-year-old Mia (and cared for by her mother Lisa Wilson and aunt Cara Wilson) has been found, after being missing for 15 days.

Caden the mostly-chihuahua dog has been returned home. She went missing from the French Road area just off Grant, and she was found 2.2 kilometres away on Sellars Road, just off Otter Point.

The little chihuahua survived just over two weeks in bear and cougar country patrolled by hungry owls in some really cold, frosty nights that dipped down to minus three.

Cadan was found early in the morning on someone’s porch hungrily eating cat food as the indignant feline owner-of-the-bowl watched on.

Cara said that Caden’s front paw was stuck under her collar, and that the leash (that she was wearing when she bolted) was not to be seen. Caden also had a pretty big gash in her shoulder. The gash came from Caden trying to step through her collar, and resulted in a fair number of stitches. The metal license on Caden’s collar is completely wrecked. All of these periphery traces speak to an adventure that will be known only by Caden.

After being returned home, and after a brief pit-stop at Mia’s school so that she knew her dog had been found, Caden was taken to the vet’s for attention.

Newly returned, Caden was also a recent addition to the family, having been adopted only three weeks before she bolted. She was rescued from a puppy mill, and plucked the family’s heartstrings this past March. Thus she found a new home here in Sooke, only to go on a two-week-plus-one-day adventure in the wilderness.

The social media reach of this story has been massive. The Sooke News Mirror, along with several other groups and individuals, also posted social-media missing notices for Caden. While we can’t speak for others, we can tell you that two our postings for missing Caden were seen by 4,292 people.

What a group of people with a shared interest can accomplish! The power of social media combined with the huge number of pet enthusiasts has been overwhelming.

The family would like to extend a huge thanks to the many people who kept a look out for their little newly adopted dog. There were sightings reported throughout Sooke, including Whiffin Spit, Kaltasin, Rhodonite and, where she was ultimately found, Sellars Road. Lisa said the residents on Sellars Road were incredible, diligently keeping an eye out for a wandering chihuahua. The gratitude from the Wilson family is tremendous, and their appreciation heartfelt when they consider the massive community effort that it required to achieve this happy ending.

It was the ongoing sightings that kept the Wilson’s family’s hopes alive. On Thursday, the day before Caden was found, there were three sightings on Sellars. This sent the family out searching during the day. And when the phone rang on Friday morning, two dishevelled, freshly wakened women, Cara and Lisa, went off to be re-united with their charge.

Caden came home from the vet’s on Friday afternoon, paw in cast, and shoulder shaved and stitched up. But safe and sound. A happy reunion indeed!