A family’s worst fears have been replaced with relief after their missing dog was rescued days after a serious vehicle crash. Daisy, a three-year-old Australian Shepherd, disappeared following a rollover accident near Canada’s Big White Ski Resort. For four days, loved ones held onto hope that she had survived and would somehow find her way back. Thanks to the determination of a search and rescue volunteer, that hope eventually turned into a happy reunion.
Rescuers find missing dog after days and reunite her with family who never gave up hope
Daisy went missing on May 30 after her family’s vehicle rolled over near Highway 33. While no one was severely injured in the crash, the frightened dog fled the scene and vanished into the surrounding wilderness.
According to Central Okanagan Search and Rescue (COSAR), volunteer Forrest Kellerman learned about Daisy while responding to an unrelated rescue call nearby. Kellerman, being an Australian Shepherd owner himself, “could not stop thinking about Daisy.”
Searching for lost pets is not part of COSAR’s mandate. Nonetheless, Kellerman returned to the area on his own time. The organization said he spent Sunday and Monday “using his training to methodically search logging roads and forested areas around the crash site.” On Tuesday evening, Kellerman and his wife, Tracey, headed out for what would be one final search. Then came a surprising discovery.
“At approximately 7 p.m. Tracey spotted something unexpected,” COSAR wrote in a Facebook post. “Sitting patiently in the passenger seat of one of the vehicles from Saturday’s accident was Daisy.” After spending three nights alone, the dog had somehow made her way back to the crash site.
Kellerman quickly contacted Daisy’s owners, who were still searching nearby, and reunited them with their missing pet. COSAR praised the effort, writing, “In this case it was used to bring a family back together.”
Family relative Annelilse Freeman later shared the good news online. “Daisy has been found,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “She is heading home right now and asking for someone to throw a ball for her.”
Freeman added that after “such a traumatic and awful crash the news could not be better.” She also shared that her stepdaughter, who was involved in the rollover, was recovering with bruises and some stiffness, while Daisy suffered no injuries.
