A beloved family member has come home in the form of Valerie, a miniature dachshund lost for 18 months — more than half her 3-year-old life — on a remote Australian island.
Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock, Valerie’s owners, had been vacationing on the island when they left Valerie in a pen for a little while as they ventured away from their campsite to go fishing. When they returned, the pet had gone missing, and despite extensive searching, they eventually had to return to the mainland without her.
Despite over 500 days living life as a feral animal, Valerie recognized Gardner “immediately” when she saw her.
“She ran straight up to me — I just burst into tears,” Gardner told the media earlier this week.
“She was wagging her tail, making her little happy sounds and wiggling around with joy. I held her and cried and cried.”
Fishlock said the moment didn’t feel real to him after so long apart.
“It was incredible — euphoric — we never thought we’d hold her again, and then suddenly, there she was,” he said.
Valerie had weighed 9 pounds when she was lost — and came home weighing 15 pounds. Veterinarians speculate that she feasted on roadkill and animal droppings to survive.
Kangala Wildlife Rescue nonprofit volunteers spotted the tiny black-and-brown dog in the middle of Kangaroo Island’s wilderness earlier in the year. After approximately 1,000 hours of combing 3,000 miles of the island, they finally trapped her and took her home in April .
After watching her through video footage and scouting the wilderness for her, the volunteers said they felt they had crafted a “deep connection” with Valerie.
“We felt like we came to know Valerie through the camera,” said Kangala Wildlife Rescue Director Jared Karran. “But when we met her in person, she was just so much smaller than we imagined. If it was a miracle before that she’d survived, seeing her size, it’s just unbelievable that she was able to survive and thrive out there.”
“If she ever feels like a Kangaroo Island getaway, she’s welcome here anytime,” he added.
Gardner and Fishlock have taken Valerie back to their home in New South Wales, Australia. They plan to keep Valerie on a raw food diet after seeing how well she fared on Kangaroo Island, and Gardner is working with a dog behaviorist to help Valerie transition back to domesticated life.
“If the smallest sausage dog can survive 529 days in the bush, you, too, can survive whatever life throws at you,” said Gardner.