CENTRAL BEDEQUE, P.E.I. — Sailor is back home.
It took her a week to do it, but the 12-year-old border collie completed her journey from Summerside to her home along the Mill Road in Central Bedeque on Friday morning.
“I’m pretty excited and relieved and all kinds of emotions,” said the dog’s owner, Betty Hunter, Friday afternoon.
She had just returned from having Sailor checked out by a veterinarian.
“She’s pretty good. She’s lost some weight, dehydrated. We have her on special food and special things to add to her water."
Hunter was en route to Montreal last week when she learned Sailor had gotten loose.
“She was staying with a relative in Summerside and she escaped. She got out because she was nervous,” Hunter explained. “So, she found her way from Summerside back here, eventually. It took her a while.”
And all the while there were people out searching for her, hundreds of people, Hunter estimates.
“This is definitely a good news story and it shows how strong our community is. I’m just so pleased with the support they gave to Sailor and me.”
The transportation department erected variable message signs, alerting motorists to the potential of wildlife in the area.
“It was a relief for us to have that there, because she was crossing that road and it was very dangerous. She travelled at night and that made it even worst,” Hunter noted.
A friend of Hunter’s, Nalan Stretch, who helped coordinate the search effort is also thankful and relieved.
“The support has been phenomenal,” she said. “There is a huge list of people to thank.”
Stretch, Hunter and another searcher, Leah Noye often travelled to agility trials together with five dogs, including Sailor.
“My tired brain, all I can say is ‘thank you, thank you, thank you.’”
People were dropping off food and supplies for the searchers.
“Sailor’s grounded and I’m staying home, too.”
-Betty Hunter, Sailor's owner
A pet recovery technician from Nova Scotia, Mike Chapman, was called in to assist with the search.
Hunter said Chapman played a role in getting Sailor home Friday morning. The Collie was spotted in a field across the Dunk River from Hunter’s driveway.
“She was on her own, but we were watching her and Mike was there with another person. They knew the field she was in, so they kind of pressured her by making noise and getting her to move away from them towards the bridge, and I think that helped push her forward.
“She tried to cross the bridge before that, but a truck came along and scared her, so she ran back into the woods.”
She made it home on her next try.
Hunter said Sailor was nervous at first.
“Once we started talking and I petted her, she was very excited. She knew she was home.”
Meanwhile, Sailor seems to be following the veterinarian’s instruction and getting her rest.
“She’s exhausted so she’s been sleeping pretty much the whole time.”
Hunter said she can now get her rest, too. She had returned to P.E.I. the day after Sailor went missing and she’s not prepared to take another trip any time soon.
“Sailor’s grounded and I’m staying home, too.”
