Bella, the Saskatoon dog who went missing from the groomer on Friday, was found on Tuesday afternoon.
Once she was found, her owners said she was taken to the vet to make sure she was healthy after being outside in the cold and snow for almost five full days.
“Bella is doing well. She’s still a bit exhausted — like all of us — but (she) is refamiliarizing herself with home very quickly. Her physical health is mostly good,” Andre Fournier said.
“She lost two pounds, has a small spot on her pad that was missing and an abrasion on her back leg.”
But she is overall in good health and is happy to be back with her family.
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Tamara Fournier was told Bella was spotted heading up Spadina Crescent by a woman named Patty Paul, so Tamara got in her car and hurried over.
“There are so many sightings that weren’t her that I was losing hope, to be honest with you,” Tamara said.
“My mornings for the last five days would start off super hopeful. Like, today is the day. Today we’re going to get her. And then as the sun goes down and that wind picks up and it starts to get dark, you just feel this dread.”
When she got to the location, Bella was still nowhere to be found, but this time they could see her paw prints in the snow.
They followed them to what Tamara described as “an older, almost historic-looking house, kind of like a cabin from my memory,” where her mom got down and was able to call Bella over and capture her.
“My mom just said, ‘I just put my face down and started singing Hallelujah,’” Tamara said.
The family and the groomer had been out every day searching, even offering a $2,300 cash reward for Bella’s safe return.
Many people across Saskatoon helped in the search and the outpouring of support online was “overwhelming and substantial, and I really hope that that part in that community keeps thriving,” Tamara said.
Tamara had people from other provinces and even other countries reaching out to her to help in any way they could.
“Christmas is my favourite time of the year. It wasn’t the same without her. All I wanted for Christmas was her. And I told my husband, I said, ‘You know, marrying you was the best day. But today, today is the best day of my life.’ And he takes no offence — it truly is for him too,” Tamara said.
On Friday, Bella was put behind a fence in the groomer’s office and watched the office dog sneak under the fence and escape.
Bella followed suit and a customer in the store opened the door and Bella made a run for it.
“(The grooming staff) rushed as fast as they could. It was a literal matter of seconds. The groomer was coming around to scoop her as fast as she could. And the woman held that door open so wide she just went running,” Tamara said.
The Fournier family stressed that they do not feel the groomer is at fault and are so happy that the groomer helped them search – even spending more time searching for Bella than they did.
“We’re thankful for the awareness that was spread to this groomer and some of the changes that needed to be. We’re not here for a witch hunt. We love her. We’re still going to go to her,” Tamara said.
She added that the groomer paid for all the thermal drones, offered the reward and was helping cover any costs of the search for Bella.
Tamara expressed that she was “in this nightmare” and is relieved that the nightmare is over and Bella is home safely.
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