A golden retriever had quite the adventure in Vancouver Monday (Oct. 31).
The pup was spotted running alone at Mainland and Helmcken around 12:30 p.m. According to V.I.A reader Brent Bagshaw, a woman from the Yaletown Business Improvement Association saw him and tried to catch him, following him up to Davie Street.
Bagshaw also saw the dog on Davie turning south onto Homer and joined the efforts. He says he called to the dog but it was spooked and kept running.
"I went upstairs to grab a pouch of dog treats and then started combing the streets," he tells V.I.A in an email.
Bagshaw was combing over the seawall and George Wainborn Park asking anyone if they had spotted the white-hued dog when a man let him know the retriever had been spotted resting in David Lam Park nearby.
"As I approached the dog with treats I could see yet another man doing the same," recalls Bagshaw. "The dog jogged towards the pier and then jumped into False Creek and started swimming."
Bagshaw called out to a passing Aquabus and the boat tried to bring the dog aboard but without much luck. "Soon there were three Aquabuses encircling the dog. The Aquabus skipper managed to grab the dog by its collar, but the dog slipped out of it," says Bagshaw. " A zodiac soon arrived on the scene, we thought it may have been the police but later learned it too was dispatched by Aquabus."
It took two men on the zodiac to get the dog on board and they did sustain a few bites but staff at the False Creek ferry company tells V.I.A that it was "nothing too serious."
"It's more that the dog was scared and getting it out of the water was tricky," they say. The dog is now safe and sound and Aquabus is working with the BC SPCA to find the dog's owner. "He's happy and healthy," they say.
