My Friend's Dog Survives!

Dog beats odds to survive

4.5-kg dog lives 4 weeks in N.Van woods

BY LARA HOWSAM, NORTH SHORE NEWS JULY 18, 2010


Denise Beirnes with her 11-year-old dachshund, Honey, who survived after being lost in the woods around Capilano River for a month.
Photograph by: Cindy Goodman, NEWS photo
Against all odds West Vancouver resident Denise Beirnes' small elderly dog survived four weeks in the wilderness on its own.

Beirnes had been hiking up Capilano Trail, off Keith Road in North Vancouver, on June 5 with her two dogs, Eddie and Honey.

Honey and Eddie are 11-year-old dachshunds that do not weigh much more than 4.5 kilograms each.

Beirnes had both dogs off-leash and was looking back every few minutes to make sure they were right behind her. But in a mater of minutes Honey disappeared.

"I looked around and he was gone," Beirnes said. "So I am calling and calling and calling him and there is no response, so we started this all-out search."

Despite exhaustive search efforts by Beirnes, some friends and the dog's walkers from North Shore Dog Walkers, Honey was nowhere to be found.

Beirnes returned to the site many times over the next few days but found no sign of Honey.

Beirnes didn't give up. She called pounds and animal hospitals, contacting all the vets on the North Shore and put up around 50 posters in the area. She also posted adds on Kijiji, Craigslist and in the North Shore News.

Hoping to provide an incentive, Beirnes offered a $1,000 reward to anyone that returned her dog safe and sound.

As the days passed, Beirnes started to lose hope.

"I really thought there was no way he could have survived. After two weeks had gone by, I realized I had to accept this," Beirnes said.

"You know I thought he had probably been killed by a predator, or somebody had him . . . obviously it broke my heart."

Then the unthinkable happened. Beirnes received a call from a man saying he had located Honey after identifying him through his tags.

It had been four weeks since Beirnes had last seen her beloved dog.

"They found him in the Capilano ravine, at Paisley Road in North Vancouver," she said. "He obviously had quite an adventure; four weeks out there without being killed or starving to death. . . ."

The dog has a heart condition for which it receives daily medication and because Honey is so small, Beirnes could not believe that her pet had survived.

"I have to be honest with you I was in such shock when they brought the dog to me that I just handed them a cheque," Beirnes said.

"Of course I said 'Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you,' but afterwards I thought that if I would have had my wits about me I would have gotten their names, and I could have called them when things settled down. I mean they brought my baby back."

When they brought Honey back, the dog was barely alive. It was exceedingly thin with its chest scraped up, two infected cuts on its ears and a skinned nose.

Beirnes said the normally lively dog was lifeless.

"He was too weak. I just lifted him up, he was just a little bag of bones," Beirnes said.

"He looked at me and gave me a little weak kiss, but that was it, he was just near death. I think probably he was just so weak."

Beirnes other dog, Eddie, was happy to be reunited with his friend but also knew Honey was not himself.

"I think Honey was so different, I mean he was in shock he didn't even move," Beirnes said about the reunion.

"He was so weak that Eddie just kind of went and curled up next to him"

Beirnes will be eternally grateful to the people who brought Honey back to her, and to all the others who offered their support.

"A few people approached me and told me stories about how their dogs had shown up," Beirnes said about the support she received. "But after a few weeks I just couldn't allow myself to believe that."

Less than 10 days after the ordeal Honey is starting to perk up. Beirnes has to feed him every three hours to help him gain his strength back. So far he has gained a pound.

"He was in shock for a few days, but he is pretty much back to his old self in terms of his behaviour," she said.

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