Dog’s best friends
Hundreds track whereabouts of Lyra, who was missing since Sunday and found swimming in the Charlottetown harbour
“There still is some good left in the world.”
Ken Peters and his wife, Susan, were on the brink of tears Friday as they recounted how their son’s dog, Lyra, was rescued from the Charlottetown harbour Thursday evening after she went missing last Sunday.
The couple has been dogsitting Lyra, or “grandparenting” as Ken puts it, for their son while he and his family are away in California.
Susan took Lyra to the Upton dog park on Sunday and let her run off-leash. But the dog got confused by group of other dogs running around the park and ran off.
After searching for her without success, Susan posted to the Facebook page P.E.I. Dog Network, alerting members that Lyra was missing.
“Hundreds of people were out there looking for her,” Ken said.
“It’s amazing how many people were out there trying to help.”
Members of the group reported sightings of the dog. On Monday she was spotted on the Warren Grove Road. On Tuesday she was at Primrose Point. On Wednesday she was near Gass’ store in New Haven.
Every time there was a sighting, the Peters’ would go to the area and search for hours for the missing dog.
Jennifer Sirois-Curtis and her husband Dennis were among the many members of the P.E.I. Dog Network who volunteered to search for Lyra.
She says they were out earlier in the day on Thursday looking for the dog but decided to take a break by going for an evening sail with some friends.
While out in the water, the three couples on the boat spotted what they thought was a seal in the water.
“When we got closer somebody yelled that it was orange, so we knew it wasn’t a seal, it was a dog,” Sirois-Curtis said.
Her husband jumped into the water and swam toward the dog, who was in the middle of the harbour over a kilometre from shore.
“She didn’t even struggle to get away, she was so tired,” Sirois-Curtis said.
Her husband swam back to
the boat with Lyra in his arms and lifted the tired dog into the
boat.
They then posted to the group that Lyra had been found.
A fisherman the Peters’ didn’t even know offered to take them in his boat to fetch the dog.
Sirois-Curtis says was incredulous to come upon Lyra in the harbour because she had been searching for her earlier in the day and then happened upon her by chance in the water. She believes the dog was trying to get back to Halifax, where her family lives.
The Peters’ say they are eternally grateful to the many Islanders who helped them to find Lyra, especially SiroisCurtis and the others in the boat.
“They didn’t want anything, they said, ‘All we want is for you to pay it forward,’” Susan said.
“We would never, ever have found her if it wasn’t those people,” Ken added.
“It’s a happy ending.”