One Nelson couple is overjoyed to have their beloved dog home after it was missing for two months.
Jean and Jim Simpson have two Welsh corgis, Tallis and Tristan, and today they’ve got their lively duo back together again after a heart wrenching search to find Tallis.
Tallis went missing on June 1. Jim and Jean had to leave town last minute and boarded their almost 8-year-old dog at a local vet clinic.
“We didn’t have time to arrange for a kennel,” said Jean.
After two days away, just a half hour before they returned home to Nelson, the dog slipped his lead on a walk with a caretaker.
“Tallis slipped his lead which he has done. He twists his head and off it comes,” said Jean. “But when he’s with us, he just stops and turns around… He was just desperate to get away.”
After darting away from his caretaker, Tallis went on a bit of an adventure. Jean was able to retrace his trek from Baker Street, up Stanley, across Hoover and down Cherry. He was almost caught twice – once by the bylaw officer and once by a concerned stranger.
Then, he disappeared.
“We were quite devastated,” said Jean.
The couple spent several days searching, putting up posters and they placed an ad in the Star. After three days, a cyclist on the Burlington Rail trail spotted Tallis around the 11 km trestle.
That cyclist reported the Tallis sighting to the Simpsons but they still couldn’t pick up their dog’s trail.
After 60 days, Jean says she’d lost hope. Jim remained optimistic that someone had taken in their pet — “a cute little dog.”
On July 29, the couple got word that a couple walking their dog along the rail trail had found a dog.
“Their dog was sniffing around in a creek that runs down to the trail so they had a look,” described Jean. “It was Tallis just curled up in a ball in the creek shivering.”
The couple took the dog home, dried him off, and fed him small bits of food.
“Of course he was just ravishingly hungry,” said Jean.
Remembering the ad placed almost two months ago, the couple who rescued Tallis tracked down the Simpsons.
“We got a call just as we were sitting down to breakfast and we couldn’t believe it,” said Jean. “We jumped in the car and drove over and sure enough, it was him.”
It was a rough go for the dog that lost half his body weight. Tallis suffered liver damage from not eating for so long, and has an eye infection and urinary tract infection.
“But he’s full of pep. It’s amazing how much energy he’s got,” says Jean.
Tristan is “overjoyed” to have his mate back because “he’d lost all interest in life” while Tallis was gone.
“Every time we’d go out, he’d sniff all around thinking he’d find Tallis,” said Jean.
Ironically, his moping around caused Tristan to gain weight so while one dog struggles to fatten up, the other is on a diet.