After twenty days of worry, thousands of kilometers driven, hundreds of social media updates and dozens of volunteers on the ground, the search for missing Larbadoodle Mordy came to a happy end Sunday when he was reunited with his family.
Some credit has to be given to a pup named Chili and a follow-up cheeseburger.
Mordy, who went missing August 26, was spotted Sunday morning on the KVR near Cormack Marsh.
Family members and friends - along with another canine named Chili - rushed to the area and managed to get close enough to entice Mordy to safety. He was then led to a warm, waiting vehicle.
鈥淐hili, Mordy鈥檚 best dog friend, was what lured Mordy, and the cheeseburger kind of sealed the deal to get him in leashes and into the truck,鈥� said a very relieved Angie Palfrey, who along with her husband Jared and their six children had been frantic about Mordy for nearly three weeks.
Angie and Jared were at home in Abbotsford when they received the news.
鈥淲e got the text saying 鈥榳e got him!鈥� We were screaming and crying.鈥�
By 9 p.m. Mordy was sleeping comfortably on the living room couch under a blanket.
His near-three week ordeal in the wilderness took a physical toll. Mordy lost approximately 15 pounds and was covered in burrs that weighed down his ears and closed one eye.
He had to be shorn, a process which left him 鈥渃ompletely relaxed,鈥� said Jared.
Mordy was in the care of the Palfrey鈥檚 niece last month when she was visiting her grandmother in Princeton.
The dog escaped from an enclosed yard, setting off an exhaustive search that brought the family back to Princeton six times, and also included the hiring of a professional tracker who employed bloodhounds.
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Jared acknowledged the efforts to get Mordy home were time consuming and expensive.
While both Angie and Jared love Mordy, he said their motivation in finding him came from their children. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want one of my kids to say to me 鈥榶ou should have done more, you could have done more鈥欌� couldn鈥檛 have lived with myself.鈥�
Mordy, a skittish animal by nature, was spooked by the efforts to rescue him, and ran from those trying to help.
Saturday the family was hopeful after Mordy was spotted in a yard near Burton Avenue. The previous day they spent following Mordy all over the Princeton map.
鈥淚t was a four hour and 20 kilometre chase, up and down the mountain and across the river and everyone soaking wet,鈥� said Jared.
But by Sunday something had changed.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 as afraid as Saturday or the day before.鈥�
Princeton residents were caught up in Mordy鈥檚 saga, following and reporting his movements on Facebook. Many went out and searched on their own.
鈥淭he people of Princeton B.C. are the finest people we have ever met, without a doubt,鈥� said Jared. 鈥淢iracles happen all the time and Mordy being found is one of them, but the softer miracle was the community coming together for complete strangers.鈥�
The Palfreys also received support from around the province and around the globe, after Mordy鈥檚 story was first published on-line.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had messages from people as far as New Zealand and France telling us they鈥檝e been following our story and congratulating us on being reunited. It鈥檚 amazing,鈥� said Angie.
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