March 27 (UPI) — A miniature dachshund who went missing while visiting South Australia’s Kangaroo Island with her owners has been seen alive 16 months later.
Georgia Gardner said her dog, Valerie, escaped from her pen at a Stokes Bay campsite in November 2023, and she and her partner, Josh Fishlock spent a week searching the island with help from locals.
They couldn’t find any trace of Valerie, and the canine’s fate was unknown until about a year after her disappearance, when sightings were reported on social media.
Kangala Wildlife Rescue joined in the search for the missing miniature dachshund and the group has now confirmed that Valerie is indeed still alive and wandering the island.
“Based on first-hand accounts and video evidence, we now know that Valerie is alive,” the rescue group said on social media. “She runs at the first sign of humans or vehicles, and despite the best efforts of dedicated Island locals, Valerie has been impossible to catch.”
The group said Thursday its rescuers saw Valerie first-hand this week.
Gardner said the confirmation of Valerie’s survival was a very welcome surprise.
“It’s been so crazy. Even with the really recent sightings, we were both just like, ‘No, don’t get your hopes up,'” she told Guardian Australia. “But, especially with the photograph that we got sent and with the confidence in Kangala Wildlife Rescue, now we’re just starting to edge to more like, ‘OK, how are we going to get to the island if we have to pick her up?'”
The search for Valerie is ongoing. Kangala Wildlife Rescue said she was last seen about 9 miles from the campsite where she went missing.