Benji’s Story

How a dozen people & a Labradoodle named Du came together to find & secure a Korean rescue dog during the Holidays. Here’s Benji’s story.❤️

Benji was in care of friends (William & Sarah) while his owners were in BC visiting family, when he bolted December 19th in unfamiliar territory & was gone! They immediately started searching for him, but were quite challenged juggling work, children, Christmas, travelling back & forth to/from Bowmanville (where they live), and caring for Sarah’s palliative dad Peter and all that comes with that.😓

We stepped in to help Dec 23rd, as we knew this was going to be a very challenging case. Over 60 large neon signs were made & installed, and 400 flyers distributed within a large area near Shelburne. Benji was extremely skittish, as are most Korean rescue dogs. Sightings began, rather sporadic, and at one point he ran along busy Hwy 124 & nearly got hit by cars; folks tried to secure him but he just kept on going. We set feeding stations, and attempted our 1st trapping in an area, but he was a no show. We did get an impromptu visit from a fisher during the day.😬

Benji was then seen in another area, and this time we set two traps on two properties, hoping he’d show up & come back. He did come to one trap area overnight, but our trap was unarmed. We armed it next day & monitored it 24/7. The New Years Eve celebrations & human activities proved too much for him and he booked it 6kms eastward to a horse farm. We got the call this morning, he was playing with the resident dogs. We immediately went on site, while one of us grabbed all equipment to relocate it if needed.

We spotted him far into the hilly fields, and our team member Norma took her dog Du ahead of his path, in hopes to lure him. She found his tracks, saw where he’d pulled hay from a bale to make himself a nest out of the wind. Clever boy. Then he popped up, and Norma got down to start the luring process using Du. He came close, intrigued with Du, and smelling the food Norma offered. But he was very nervous & scared. After about an hour, Norma took her opportunity & grabbed his collar! Out of fear, he bit her hand (she is ok!). So we went out to help further secure him using our snare pole, and wrapped him in a blanket to keep him warm & calm.

Off to the Graham Animal Hospital in Hillsburgh we went, and Benji received outstanding care from Dr Denise Lukacs & staff. He lost 10lbs (normally 40lbs), had quills in his snout, was dehydrated, had 1 tick and a few scrapes, but otherwise appeared ok. He will be on antibiotics & a strict feeding regimen for a while, and will recover fully.❤️❤️

Peter (Sarah’s father) was so thrilled to learn Benji was safe, he found the strength to get out of bed for first time in 3 days, and sat in a comfy chair to greet him back.💓

We must thank Ed, Mena & Dominic, and Alan for allowing us full access & use of their grounds. To Greg for assisting, and to everyone who called in sightings, thank you!

Team Benji included us, as well as Kathryn (outstanding young lady!) and Sheryl (amazing woman!), and we thank Diana & Annette for their support throughout!

Let’s not forget Du, who played a key part (good boy!)

Rest & heal well Benji, and welcome back home sweety.🐾🏡❤️