A dog and his owner are reunited after the pet was found wandering the streets of downtown Winnipeg, more than 400 kilometres away from its home in Roblin, Man.
When 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier Duke vanished on June 20, owner Taylor Funk called veterinarians, placed ads in the local paper, and searched the area around her home. But she was coming up empty-handed.
“I just kind of lost hope,” she told CTV Winnipeg. “I didn’t think I was going to find him.”
After nearly a month of searching, Funk received a phone call from the organizers of Facebook group “Winnipeg Lost Dog Alert,” a page aimed reuniting the city’s lost dogs with their owners.
Melissa Chung, a woman living in downtown Winnipeg, had found Duke wandering in her neighbourhood two weeks earlier. She took the dog in and even figured out its name by calling a variety of common dog names and until Duke responded.
“We’re not too sure what he’d been up to,” Chung said. “He’s just such a brave little dog and I’m sure he was trying to find his way home.”
Looking for Duke’s owner, Chung posted a photo on the “Winnipeg Lost Dog Alert” page that eventually helped establish the connection.
On Wednesday, Funk drove more than four hours to Winnipeg to pick up the dog.
She said she doesn’t know why or how Duke got so far away from home, but is glad to have him back nonetheless.
“I bought him with my first paycheck from my first job,” Funk said. “He means the world to me.”
Chung said she was sad to part with Duke, their time together has inspired her to adopt a dog of her own.
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
