After traveling across southeast Ontario for 40 days and 40 nights in search of its owner, Brady, a lost Bernese Mountain Dog, has at last returned home to his owner Dave Hallett.
After leaving Brady with a family member near Sydenham while Dave and his wife Amanda were at a wedding in Kingston, they got the call that no pet owner wants to get a couple of hours later.
“Something spooked him, he burst out the screen door and off he went,” said owner Dave Hallett. “(It’s a) heavily wooded area so within a few minutes he was gone, vanished into the woods.”
Brady was not to be found when the Hallett family hurriedly returned from the wedding.
They started using social media, according to Amanda, but after a few weeks and a few reported sightings, they had no luck actually tracking Brady down. So they asked professional dog rescuer Kimberly Vastino for assistance.
“She realized we need a bigger community,” says Amanda. “We can’t just be doing some of these local Facebook groups, we need our own page.”
Thus, the “Bring Brady Home” Facebook page was created. As the weeks passed, the Halletts received a steady stream of messages, images, and videos of sightings that helped them maintain hope. Brady traveled more than 100 kilometers, constantly moving from town to town, according to the sightings.
They eventually got a tip that Brady was in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory. They set up a 4×10 foot trap full of hamburgers, hotdogs, and Cheezies in the Bay of Quinte to lure him in. Brady was reunited with the Halletts on October 12.
“It all came out once we finally got our hands on him, and we smothered him and there were some tears,” says Dave. “It was a very, very happy time.”
After taking the bait, Brady’s misadventure had a happy ending. The Hallett family expresses their appreciation for the community’s efforts at welcoming Brady permanently home. According to the couple, Brady will limit his explorations to the parks in the city of Brockville.
