Lost Newfoundland dog found in Nova Scotia
HaLiFaX, n.S.
Like a twist on a Littlest Hobo adventure, it was social media that helped solve the mystery of a lost dog from Newfoundland that ended up in Nova Scotia.
Unlike the popular Canadian TV show, Trapper did not choose a life of crime-solving freedom. He was picked up by a well-meaning woman after running into the woods in Goobies, an area just south of his home in North West Brook.
Cyril Norris, the owner of the two-year-old mixed-breed dog, said he was moose hunting on Sunday with his son-in-law Greg Goobie when Trapper, who he had left in his truck while the men went out, was spooked by the sound of the first shot at their quarry and bolted.
“So I was searching for the dog ’til 11 o’clock at night the first night, and yesterday morning I went in at six in the morning,” Norris said in a telephone interview. “It was still dark but I was blowing the horn down the power line — blowing the horn and talking to people.”
His daughter, Holly Goobie, said the distraught family also took to social media for help. They posted requests on Facebook for help finding Trapper, her dad’s faithful companion.
And the Nova Scotia SPCA responded.
Sandra Flemming, the SPCA’s provincial director of animal care, said a woman brought Trapper to their Colchester shelter in Truro
on Monday.
The woman had apparently found the dog in the early morning hours and felt it was best to take him with her rather than leave him in the wild. But she was moving to Nova Scotia, nothing was open in Newfoundland and she had to get to the ferry.
“I think she thought she was doing the right thing by bringing the dog to Nova Scotia,” Flemming said. “Probably, in hindsight, it would have been best to just wait until animal control or a vet hospital opened up and then leave the dog with somebody (there). Then the dog wouldn’t
have made the long journey to Nova Scotia.”
Flemming said there wasn’t enough space to accommodate Trapper at the Truro facility but, since the woman was going to the Halifax area anyway, staff recommended she take the dog to the Dartmouth shelter.
SPCA staff then searched on social media, found the Facebook posts about Trapper and reached out directly to the family.
Norris, who is 67, said he can’t afford to have the dog flown back to Newfoundland, so the family turned to social media once again.
This time, they posted on trucker sites seeking the help of a Good Samaritan who might be willing to bring Trapper home. Dan England answered.
The trucker, who is from about two hours north of Goobie, will pick Trapper up on his way back to Newfoundland. He was in Cornwall, Ont., at lunchtime on Tuesday and was hoping to get the dog on Wednesday evening.
“I don’t know the family but my heart went out to her when a woman said ‘our dog ended up in Nova Scotia,’” England said over the phone. “No one wants to lose their pup, right? It’s part of the family.
“I got a little fur bag back home now and if anything ever happened to it, I’d probably lose my marbles.”
The 38-year-old father of five and owner of a Shih Tzu said he has no problem helping a family in need.
“If you got a dog, it’s the same thing as one of your kids. If anything ever went missing, you’d do your damnedest to find it, wouldn’t you?”
Flemming said she took Trapper in her own car back to the Truro shelter on Tuesday so England can pick him up.
“It’s a very sweet dog. He’s awesome in the car,” she said. “He’s a little anxious, though, and I think he’d just like to go home.”
Norris is certainly anxious to get Trapper back.
“He’s pretty good. (The trucker will) have a good friend on the way back,” Norris said.
“Oh, my God, yes. I’ll be glad to see him.”