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A heartfelt thank you goes out to Healing Hearts Lost Pet Search & Recovery who aided us in the search for Frankie And Tucker.
This is a play-by-play account of Frankie & Tucker's adventure, written by one of the key people we had advising and assisting in the recovery effort.
Tucker and Frankie went missing on Monday, Nov. 13/17. They escaped at different times but from the same area, after slipping their collars and bolting on the volunteers at EHS. Lost and Found Pets Toronto reached out to offer their assistance in the search efforts for the pair. Being new rescues from a northern community and still so young, we knew they needed to come home as quickly and safely as possible.
As luck would have it, Frankie's general location was quickly discovered and efforts to secure her were put in place. Volunteers from EHS did a poster blitz of the area, baited and assisted in monitoring humane traps around the clock, while calls continued to come in regarding possible sightings of Tucker. We needed to bring one in so as to ascertain which sightings were of which pup.
Our efforts appeared to have been thwarted as soon it became apparent that Frankie had vanished due to all of the new activity in the area. There were no sightings of Frankie for several days and we had all feared she may have been pushed out of the area. Then on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 18/17 photos of Frankie came in from our cellular game cam!! Frankie was at the trap and appeared to be well. Although the trap was armed, Frankie was much taller than we had anticipated and the trap did not deploy. She had a good meal and toddled off. Our hearts sank however, she now knew the food was there and we were confident that she would return. Worry set in when photos of a coyote by the trap came in…would she return?? The coyote did not pay much attention to the trap and wandered off into the night. It was a bit of a nail biting moment as we watched and prayed that he did not enter the enclosure.
On the morning of Sunday, Nov. 19/17 photos began to flood our phones of Frankie at the trap again!! Volunteers were contacted to be ready to go to the trap location and then the photo we had all awaited arrived ... Frankie was secure!!!! Frankie was taken to EHS and seen by a vet who found her to be in good health. She was safe and secure…now the next part of her journey will begin with the dedicated and caring volunteers who make up the EHS. It will be some time before Frankie will be available for adoption, but after meeting her and spending a little bit of time with her I can say she is a sweet and gentle soul who will make someone a beautiful addition to any family.
Our search for Tucker continued…there were many sightings of him however he continued to be on the move. We urged the public to not approach him in any manner…pretend he was invisible and ignore him. If it was safe to so, we asked that people take a photo or a brief video, so that we could confirm the dog was actually Tucker.
Finally, Tucker was safely secured on Friday, Nov. 24/17 at 9:15pm!!! Tucker traversed a large area of Etobicoke over the 11 days he was on the run. He was seen on several occasions on HWY 427 and was gently guided off the highway by members of the community. The ravines and creek systems that run throughout the area are home to a wide array of wildlife and enjoyed by the entire community. It's amazing how resilient and resourceful even a young pup like Tucker can be when out in our urban wilderness!!
After 11 days eluding our search teams we caught a break!! Tucker was seen in a family’s backyard. With photo confirmation that it was our boy, we cautiously relocated our trap. As Tucker had repeatedly been chased out of areas, only a handful of people were advised of his location for fear any increase in activity would push him away. Our first visitors to the trap was a family of raccoons who enjoyed the tasty bounty laid out for Tucker and made their way out. The trap was re-baited at 9 pm and within 11 mins Tucker had made his way to the trap!! I'm pretty sure he was watching the raccoons, and then Linda re-bait the trap =)
Thank you to everyone that kept their eyes peeled for these two roaming pups, the families who welcomed us onto their property to place our traps and monitoring equipment…and to the team of volunteers who postered the entire community .. it’s because of YOU Tucker is safe!! We look forward to hearing more about Tucker and Frankie's journey as they set out to find their forever homes.