Happy ending: Xena is home safe!

By Maddison, Assistant Manager, City of Richmond Animal Shelter

Xena, a missing husky-pomeranian cross, has finally been found after being lost for almost two months!

Xena, who was very recently adopted by her loving family in early August, slipped away from her caretaker by accident, panicked and took off running. Unfortunately, her owners were not able to catch or find her although they kept looking and calling for her for a very long time. Xena was brand new to the family and the area, which made it all the more difficult.

RAPS received a couple of phone calls about a husky-type dog being spotted briefly inside the Richmond Nature Park and near Highway 99 over the last month or so. Our dedicated Animal Control Officers patrolled the area many times (both in vehicles and on foot) but never sighted the dog. According to Xena’s owners, other organizations had searched for her and placed traps in the area to try to catch her, but had no luck. On Monday morning, we received two calls about a husky being spotted in the exact same area. On Monday afternoon, our Animal Control Officer Shane set up a large dog trap with a tasty meal inside. Sure enough, when he went to check the trap first thing Tuesday morning, there was a small husky-cross inside!

The beautiful dog was immediately brought back to RAPS Animal Shelter, where she was assessed and given a warm bed, another meal and fresh water. Our Admin Assistant began checking our lost reports and came across a report for a missing dog that sounded exactly like Xena. We also recognized her from other online postings, although we were definitely skeptical because the missing date was so long ago. Thankfully, upon scanning her, our team found a microchip, which we were able to trace. We quickly confirmed that our sweet little husky was indeed Xena!

When we called her family right away, they couldn’t believe it. They came down to reclaim her immediately and were so happy to see her again – they thought they had lost her forever.

Xena’s story is a great example of a collaborative effort to reunite a missing pet with their family. Xena’s family did everything right – from filing a report with us, creating online postings and ensuring she had permanent identification, including a City of Richmond license. RAPS is also very appreciative of the calls from our observant and caring community, which allowed us to create an effective trapping plan. We definitely couldn’t have caught Xena without the crafty trap our Animal Control Officer rigged up, either.

Thankfully, Xena is now safe at home. Everybody came together in this unique story, which resulted in Xena being back exactly where she belongs. She is very thin and malnourished but otherwise doing well – her family took her to their veterinarian immediately.

It always surprises us how domestic animals can survive under dangerous and stressful circumstances. Animals are truly resilient and brave and Xena is no exception. We wish her and her family all the best and are confident Xena will stay safe and sound from here on out.