Lost dogs rarely capture international attention but for several weeks the world has watched and waited for updates on the search for Valerie, a miniature dachshund missing in the Australian wilderness.
Then on Friday night, after 529 days roaming Kangaroo Island, off South Australia, the tiny dog with a pink collar was finally cornered, and the internet erupted with rare joy.
“Valerie has been safely rescued and is fit and well,” Kangala Wildlife Rescue announced on its Facebook group on Friday night to a flurry of likes and shares.
Key to her rescue was a smelly T-shirt worn by her owner in 12-hour shifts that was ripped up and used as a scent trail to attract her to an enclosure, Kangala directors Jared and Lisa Karran said in a video posted to Facebook.
“We were able to rip little strips off of it, and we started the process of just adding more and more bits towards the trap site as we went along,” said Lisa Karran.
Karran wore the owner’s now “tatty” T-shirt while sitting in the cage, and eventually the rogue sausage dog dropped her defenses and approached her rescuers.
“She came up, would sniff us and we’d just go by her cues, until she was completely calm and snuggled up in our laps. It was amazing,” Karran said.
Valerie vanished during a camping holiday with her owners Josh Fishlock and Georgia Gardner, November 2023. When strangers tried to help, she fled into the undergrowth, and her owners eventually gave up and returned home to the mainland.
With no sightings it was assumed Valerie had met her match with a snake or perhaps a giant Rosenberg’s goanna, reptiles up to 1.5 meters long that occupy the island.
Then reports of multiple sightings started to spread. Could it be that Valerie was alive?
A massive search operation swung into action led by volunteers from the Kangala Wildlife Rescue, a non-profit group set up in 2020 following the devastating Australian bushfires.
“We are using surveillance and various trapping and luring methods in the area she was last seen to try and bring her home. This is a tiny dog in a huge area, and we will need help from the public to report any sightings and a lot of luck,” the group announced on Facebook.
When bad weather compromised the 4G cameras they’d set up to monitor her movements, a call went out for a portable Starlink system. “Message Elon on X. I bet he would help,” someone suggested. Thankfully, an offer came from closer to home.
Some suggested using heat-seeking drones to find her, others recommended roast chicken.
Not all followers have been supportive. Some accused the charity of prolonging the search to raise extra money through appeals for donations. A member of the group responded that they were doing their best to find her.
Part of the problem, the charity said, was the island’s vibrant ecosystem.
“One of the reasons this is such a difficult rescue and not as easy as just baiting and setting traps, is due to the fact we are constantly competing with hundreds of wildlife like possums, wallabies, kangaroos, goannas and feral cats. All which are all just after a feed also,” the group posted on Facebook.
Home to around 5,000 people, the island is about 45-minute trip by ferry from the mainland. Tourists go there to see Australian native wildlife, but officials have long had a problem controlling introduced species including feral cats. The island is thick with bush, and there are many places for a small dog to hide.
The Kangala rescuers put out food boxes and a pen was set up with toys from home. A remote-controlled trapping device was procured, and then they waited.
By Friday, Valerie’s adventure was over.
After the gate to the enclosure closed behind her, Valerie looked around for an exit, the rescuers said. After a few anxious moments, she did what any lost dog might do after realizing the game was up.
“She actually went into her crate, the one that was set up to look like the one at home, and she went and had a sleep,” said Jared Karran.
Valerie is now “decompressing,” Karran said, and will be returned to her owners for a more sedate life on the mainland.