24 hours on the lam: Lost dog returned to P.E.I. couple after harrowing search

A four-pound chihuahua from P.E.I. is back at home and recovering after being lost for more than 24 hours, and travelling kilometers on her tiny legs.

Claude and Susan Simpson of Miscouche, P.E.I., were stayingat the Hartt Island RV Resort inFredericton on July 15, when Dallas, their 11-year-oldChihuahua, went missing around 9 p.m.

"Fireworks were going off, Susan had opened the door to take the other dog out and we think that's when she got out," Claude said.

When they noticed Dallas was gone, they panicked.

'The search wason'

After Claude searched their RV and their campground lotfor nearly an hour,their neighboursaid he hadseen the dog "running to the other end of the campground."

"I knew right then, the search was on," said Claude.

Susan said they looked for the dog all evening with the help of the employees at the campground, who drove around in golf carts and flashlights searching the lots for their missing dog.

At one point, Susan said, they were roaming through a cemetery with penlights at 3 a.m.

Racingfor Dallas

The next morning Susan took to social media to find Dallas.

"People were calling in saying she's right here at this address and we'd be there and she'd be gone," Claude said.

In total, they estimate, they spent nearly 24 hours looking for Dallas within a 8-10 km radius and received 340 messages, texts and calls fromsocial media.

Around 9 p.m. the following night, almost 24 hours after the dog went missing, somebody called and said they had her.

"We quickly drove there," Susan said, to a subdivision not far away.

"She got into a fenced in yard," Claude said, when one of the children saw her and thought she was a rabbit.

Claude said the familychased her around the back yard until she collapsed.

When Susan and Claude arrived at the family's house, the children had Dallas wrapped in their arms in a pink towel, damp from a fresh bath.

'A good ending'

"I don't know who was crying more, me or the little ones that had her in their arms I was crying, they were crying."

After retrievingDallas, they saw she hadworn down her nails considerably and blood was seeping throughthe black pads on her paws.

But she recovered just fine. "It was a miracle," Claude said.

The family is back in Miscouchenowwith their healthy dogs, emotional about how the community of Fredericton rallied to rescue their tiny dog.

"We call them the Fredericton angels because that's who helped us," Susan said."If it wasn't for them we would have never got her back."

"It was a good ending to the story."

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