BURSTFour days after going missing following a serious car crash, an Australian Shepherd named Daisy has been reunited with her family, safe and sound thanks to a Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR) volunteer.
The dog vanished on Saturday, May 30, after her family vehicle was involved in a rollover incident near Big White Ski Resort.
“Daisy has been found,” said family relative Annelilse Freeman on Facebook on Tuesday night, June 2.
“She did circle back to the crash site. She is heading home right now, asking for someone to throw a ball for her. After such a traumatic and awful crash, the news could not be better.”
According to a post on Facebook by COSAR, Daisy was found by member Forrest Kellerman, who spent three days searching for her after COSAR offered its services. Kellerman, who has two Australian Shepherds himself, couldn’t stop thinking about Daisy.
“On Sunday and Monday he returned to the area on his own time, using his training to methodically search logging roads and forested areas around the crash site,” reads the COSAR Facebook post.
Kellerman and his wife, Tracey went out on Tuesday night “one last time” to search for Daisy.
“At approximately 7 p.m. Tracey spotted something unexpected,” reads the post. “Sitting patiently in the passenger seat of one of the vehicles from Saturday’s accident was Daisy.”
Kellerman immediately reached out to the family, who was in the area and reunited them with Daisy.
Before she was found, family and friends had spent days searching the area, desperate to find the dog and hopeful she was unharmed from the collision.
“While COSAR’s mandate does not allow us to search for missing pets, the skills members learn can be used however they see fit,” said COSAR. “In this case it was used to bring a family back together.”
Freeman added her stepdaughter, who was involved in the crash, has some bruises and is experiencing some stiffness.