A runaway sausage dog named Valerie has been captured after a 529-day adventure, transfixing Australia as she roamed an island teeming with kangaroos, possums, koala bears and penguins.
The miniature dachshund had eluded searchers on Kangaroo Island since November 2023, only rarely appearing in fuzzy glimpses caught by night-time cameras that showed her pink collar.
“Valerie has been safely rescued and is alive and well,” the wildlife group that has been hunting the wily canine on the southern Australian island said late on Friday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We are absolutely thrilled and deeply relieved that Valerie is finally safe and able to begin her transition back to her loving parents,” Kangala Wildlife Rescue wrote on social media.
Valerie made her escape during a camping trip with owners Georgia Gardner and her partner Josh Fishlock, dashing out of a pen and straight into the bush.
Her owners gave up after days of searching Stokes Bay off South Australia — more than 4,400 square kilometres of farms, nature reserves and craggy cliffs.
Stokes Bay locals like to say that their island is six times bigger than Singapore. It is also much wilder — a place where a couple can walk alone on a pristine beach, whales visit, trees grow bent over from the wind and bushfires occasionally raze the land. Much of it remains untamed, remote.
The missing mutt was not seen for more than a year, with many holding out little hope for her survival.
Then, video surveillance and locals began spotting her, and volunteers launched a patient hunt for the hound, which seemed to flee from people and cars.
Investing more than 1,000 hours, volunteer searchers drove more than 5,000km and deployed cameras, traps and lures.
Snatches of black-and-white video showed Valerie regularly visiting a trap site, set up with a cage, blankets and toys — although the facilities also attracted local possums.
One picture appeared to show the dog’s oversized ears poking above some paddock stubble.
After finally catching up with the wandering canine, volunteers at Kangala Wildlife Rescue said that they were taking a “short pause to process this amazing result.”
Despite their modest dimensions, dachshunds are “game for anything,” the American Kennel Club said.
“Bred to be an independent hunter of dangerous prey, they can be brave to the point of rashness, and a bit stubborn,” it said.
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