| Fufer goes missing! | Fufer's rescue | James French animal communicator | from Jodie's mother, Carolann Hamilton |
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Jodie's account: Fufer has become deaf over the last year and could not hear our calls. I rushed home to call my mother and others to come help. I grabbed flashlights and returned to the field. We searched everywhere in the hills, as much as we could in the dark, but Fufer could not be found. I feared the worst. She is quite strong for 16 and is very familiar with hiking as we take her on rough terrain quite often, but she has not spent a night out of the comfort of a warm bed in the 14 years that I have had her. Loyal and our neighbor spent the night up there in a tent while I went home and called everyone that I could think of.
The week was such a blur but I am writing what I can remember. Tuesday morning we searched through the thick woods and got a tracking dog to see if that would help, but still no sign of her. Later that day our friend gathered about a dozen people to start in on a search of the community below. We all searched backyards, riverbanks, and ocean sides and still no sign of Fufer. As another night was approaching I feared the worst. Our neighbor stayed with us throughout the whole ordeal.
That night we stayed in the United Church parking lot and kept a look out for Fufer. A terrible rainstorm had come with high winds and pelting rain, I was just about out of my mind that Fufer was out in this weather. The next morning my mother had come with some information from an animal communicator saying that Fufer was still alive. There were several communicators working on the case all saying she was alive, but all having different locations. That morning we found out that a young boy had seen Fufer by the Anglican Church and tried to catch her but she ran away. We were told that on Monday night she was seen eating from a beagle's dish in someone's back yard. That gave us some hope but I was still worried that she did not make it through the storm
Wednesday a friend of ours printed off hundreds of flyers about Fufer's disappearance and we all went door to door covering all of the homes in the area. We searched through yards, sheds, under decks, in the heavily treed area etc. No one seemed to mind us raiding their properties; all were glad to help. There were children searching on bikes, senior citizens searching through brush, people with dogs searching the woods, but no sign of Fufer. Another night was approaching and I feared the worst again. The people of the community and all our friends, family, communicators and even complete strangers kept us going. Wednesday night we stayed in a vacant lot across from the fire station. We had scattered old socks and food around the area in the hope that she would find it. Another night went by and still no sign of Fufer. Thursday morning we decided to cook some eggs (Fufer's favorite) back in the parking lot of the Anglican Church where she was spotted, hoping that she would smell them cooking and come to us. No luck. After breakfast (the first time I had eaten since Monday) I got my rubber boots on and scoured the river in search for Fufer. Loyal stayed at the church in case she returned. Half way down the river I crawled up on the riverbank into someone's back yard. I heard a faint dingle and looked across the river where I saw a small black dog darting down the road towards the church. I radioed to Loyal to let him know that I thought it may be Fufer and she was heading his way. When the dog reached Loyal's sight it disappeared back down into the river again, without a trace. The SPCA did a news story that afternoon letting everyone know that Fufer was missing. One of the local residents Dolda Redman got on the news and said that her husband would set out food and wait up all night to see if Fufer would return for the food. We continued to search and a small black dog was spotted again that day - I could only hope that it was Fufer. Friends, family, neighbors, communicators and strangers continued their efforts to find Fufer but yet another night was approaching and I was going out of my mind. |
The actual search: That evening the SPCA set up a baited trap in the hope that Fufer would return for food. A friend brought us some supper but I could not eat with all of the stress. I decided to go home for a quick shower, the first time since Monday and change into some clean dry clothes. We decided to spend the night at the end of the road by the church, that way we could see the church, the river and the trap. It got pretty cold and foggy that night and still no sign of Fufer.
Friday morning Loyal went home to get a thermos of tea and some granola bars for me and some eggs for a cook-up again. While he was gone Bob Redman (the man that had tried to bait Fufer) stopped down for a chat. He told me that the food had not been touched. Loyal returned and cooked some food but still no sign of Fufer. I continued to walk the riverbank, search the woods and check the areas where we had left items for Fufer. We had left a tent with her blanket up in the mountains where she had been lost, but there were no signs of her there either. The blanket behind the church had not been slept on and the socks behind the post office had not been disturbed. Loyal stayed around the church in case she returned. I wandered the old graveyard and riverbank.
About 1:30 pm I was by the old church when I saw Bob Redman speeding up the road in his old truck. He told me that he had been down past the point on North Point Road (beyond safe entry) and heard a dog barking up in the cliffs. He said it did not sound like a beagle, and said there was no way up the cliffs without professional gear as climbers had fallen to their death before and it was too dangerous, "you need stronger legs" he said. I jumped in my Jeep and followed him.
When I got to the trailhead I heard a faint bark. It sounded like her. I radioed to Loyal to come down but the barking stopped. I got half way up in my sneakers and pj's but could no longer hear barking. Bob pointed out where he could hear the barking coming from. By that time Loyal was there and was heading up in a different direction. We both headed up the cliff with guidance from Bob. I looked down for a moment and got dizzy at the sight of the ocean below. I was amazed at the show the whales were putting on in the ocean directly below. We continued to climb then I heard Loyal scream "I see her! I see her! She is looking at me and wagging her tail!" I then heard Fufer screaming so loud that I thought she was injured. She was now only about 100ft away up the cliff. I rushed up and saw that her leash was caught tightly in the rocks, pinning her and sitting up facing the ocean. I ripped her leash out of the rocks and screamed out "We got her!". I sat with her for a minute until Loyal reached us. It looked so steep, how were we going to get down? Loyal walked Fufer a few feet but she was exhausted and dehydrated and her eyes were sunburned. She collapsed for a second. I picked her up and took one step at a time with her over one arm. When we got to the bottom Bob was waiting. When we got back to the trailhead Bob's wife Dolda was crying and grabbed Fufer and hugged her. Fufer drank about a liter or so of water from a mud puddle and I put her in the Jeep and took her home. She is now recovering at home in our bed and drinking lots of broth. She is doing well and will be just fine thanks to all the people that helped in her search and keeping our spirits up. The people down in the cove were absolutely amazing - the kindest people around. We stayed there all week and everyone helped. There were so many people helping that I don't know how to thank them all. People were helping with tracking dogs, canceled their holidays to help, bringing us food (although we could not eat much) offering for us to stay in their homes. The SPCA and all our friends and family were amazing...Anyway thank you to all. FUFER WAS FOUND on the 20th August 2004 about a kilometre away from
the church, where she had got tangled up in rocks at the top of a cliff.
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The following is from James FRENCH, one of the animal communicators who helped in the search for Fufer. Firstly, it is always a relief when the dog is reunited with its owner -
no matter how it came to be, or who the animal or the owner. The case of Fufer
really emphasized this. I received an email from Pauline Jefferey as a desperate
plea. |
...received two days after Fufer went missing: I just wanted to update all you wonderful people this morning before I head
out once again to help in the search. Judie is in a different town from me
so it takes me a while to get back and forth. I promise to email each and
every one of you who have been emailing me privately as soon as I am able.
What a wonderful blessing to have such a large family of loving people.
God must surely be smiling on each one of you as He says love in the most
important thing and I am certainly feeling lots of that!< ...received after Fufer was found: Fufer has her corneas sunburned and she's lost a fair bit of weight. She also has sore feet and split nails and lip, but she is coming along quite well. Judie was concerned about her collapsing and falling over the first few hours after her rescue but with lots of TLC she is bouncing back quite well for an old codger of 16 years! I would like to once again thank all of you for the outpouring of love and encouragement. I don't know how we could have continued to go on without all the support from our worldwide family.FUFER - 20 years old! |
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