After surviving nearly a year and a half in the Australian wilderness, a miniature dachshund named Valerie was finally rescued, thanks to the dedicated and strategic efforts of volunteers from a local wildlife rescue group, according to Smithsonian magazine.
Valerie was just a year old when she vanished in November 2023, slipping out of her playpen while on a camping trip with her guardians on Kangaroo Island.
For the next five days, the couple searched tirelessly for their beloved puppy, but she was nowhere to be found. With heavy hearts, they were forced to leave the island to return to their jobs in New South Wales.
The chances of their little girl surviving the wild — home to venomous snakes, wedge-tailed eagles, and monitor lizards — seemed slim.
Then, roughly a year after her disappearance, sightings of a tiny dachshund wearing a pink collar surfaced.
When the dog was spotted again in late February, the nonprofit Kangala Wildlife Rescue and its volunteers sprang into action — setting up trail cameras and traps, speaking with witnesses, and leaving out food to help bring Valerie home.
After logging over 1,000 hours and traveling more than 3,000 miles in their efforts to catch the pup, they finally succeeded — using a remote-controlled trap pen stocked with her old toys, bed, and pieces of her guardian’s clothing.
Once the door shut behind her, she circled the pen, looking for an exit — but eventually gave up, climbed into her crate, and fell asleep.
Amazingly, the rescue described her as being “fit and well,” which goes to show just how resourceful this little pup was.
Lady Freethinker is grateful for the volunteers’ commitment and compassion, which made Valerie’s long-awaited reunion with her family possible. We wish Valerie and her family a lifetime of joy.
