A Furever Family Miracle: Gunnar’s Story!

We love our animals and our animals love us. I cannot understand how it is that there are so many people who think that a pet is nothing more than a possession that can be thrown away when the animal becomes inconvenient. It is my unwavering belief that animals have souls and that makes it downright impossible to stand aside and do nothing. And so when I created my blog I knew I needed to make space for the animals and that is how Seeking Love Saturdays came about.

Here is the story of Gunnar Karl who disappeared from his yard in Verona, Pennsylvania and was missing for 20-months. His story will have you crying with joy.

Gunnar’s disappearance in the summer of 2013, left his canine brother to feel lost and alone while his human family pulled out all of the stops desperately trying to locate him. But, Gunnar was nowhere to be found. Finally, they gave up hope, as any of us would, that they would ever hold, play and talk with their beloved pooch again.

Meanwhile, there were ongoing reports of a loose dog in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Agents at the City of Pittsburgh Animal Care & Control found themselves on a hunt of their own: to find and capture the dog that was outsmarting them.

This dog was smart.^* He knew that these humans trying to capture him were strangers and was fearful of their intent.  He would quickly respond to their tactics, avoiding capture by running off into the 644-acre Frick Park, where he lived by his wit and his instinct to hunt and scavenge.  Despite months of ongoing sightings and searches, which included efforts to track him using footprints in the snow, the dog remained free of human capture and the safety they were trying to afford him.

The efforts of these tireless men and women to rescue this dog that had evaded capture for so long eventually did pay off. The dog was captured and taken to the Animal Rescue League for care. And it was there that thanks to a microchip he was identified as Gunner, the dog that had gone missing in a neighboring community nearly two years earlier!

And on Wednesday, Gunnar was reunited with his human family.² They were of course overjoyed to see him, but what they got from him in return was even more heartwarming!

Watch the video and see what I mean:

^*I like to imagine that his canine brother was out in the car, excitedly awaiting the return of his brother Gunnar, who he could smell for the first time in, well, for a dog, an eternity!

²In fact, he was so smart he returns home no longer lean like his brother but fat and happy from all of those nutty-lovin’ squirrels!

Video credit: Steve Stoehr, Allegheny County Dog Warden