Found After Missing For Nearly 10 Years

Reunion Story of the Year 2023

We got Mr Bigglesworth as a kitten and loved him very much. He went missing when he was about 2 or 3 years old. There was a bush fire across the road, from where we lived, at the time. We never saw him after that.

We searched for a few weeks after, and thought he had died. We have always wondered what had happened to him. Nearly 10 years later, we get a phone call from Ten Lives telling us they have found our cat. We brought him back home to us the next morning. Our hearts melted when we saw him again, we don't have to wonder any more. So so so happy to have him back.

- Vanessa

Week Away

Little Nunu decided to go on a little expedition for a week, leaving us on the evening of the 19th Dec, registering her as missing and contacting all our local vets and RSPCA to spread the word. We walked our local neighbourhood multiple times. As well as driving around and taking the long way home every time we went out or returned. She was eventually found by some lovley people about half a kilometre from where we live. It was a cul de sac where we has not gone but had walked past multiple,times on the main road and on the pathway at the back, what a relief it was to get her back in good health. Thanks to all the support from strangers sharing our details of our missing cat, the vets and RSPCA for taking details to keep an eye out for her as well as CAR for providing a service where we knew if she was take. To a vet we would be notified.

- C.A.R. Pet Owner

Just Like The Advice Said: Keep Looking!

JJ is an indoor cat and inexplicably jumped or fell from a window in our apartment on 22 December. We found no sign of her in the basement garden below or anywhere around. We searched day and night for three days. We postered, we facebooked, we checked all adjacent apartment blocks, car parks, gardens multiple times each day and night but there was no sign.

We walked the streets at 3am shaking her treat packet. We kept consoling ourselves with the guidance that indoor cats will not go far, that hiding cats may not respond, and that most cats will be found so you must persist. On Christmas day we finally heard a response from the basement area. We could hear but not see her.

We kept calling and then out she popped from a cat flap in an unoccupied basement flat. This was somewhere we had searched and called multiple times previously with no response. But there she was. After tempting her with her favourite treats, she ventured out and we were able to pick her up and take her back upstairs. Hungry, very thirsty, but uninjured. We, on the other hand, may never recover!

- Maryanne

SES Rescue

Tameka and I had recently moved into a unit. I kept her indoors for two weeks before allowing her to go outside for short periods supervised for a few weeks and once I was confident that she knew where home was she was allowed out at will.

Two months passed until one evening she failed to return. I called her but no response. Good people suggested I leave her litter tray outside, go for a 3am walk calling her name all of which I did. I put an ad in the local paper but no luck. After a tearful week when I was coming to terms with never seeing my beloved girl again I received a phone call from the local vet to tell me that they had Tameka in their care. I find it difficult to express how excited and eager I was to drive to pick her up. I hugged her and cried even though she smelled like cat wee and was fairly dirty.

Then I heard her story, she had jumped the fence at the end of our block of units and climbed onto the roof of that next block of units. It was raining and she jumped into the yard of that unit and the lady staying there saw her but thought she belonged to the house behind. There was a large watertank built into a bricked in corner of that unit and somehow Tameka had climbed back onto the roof then on to the top of the tank which was wet, there was no grip for her claws and she slipped off into the bricked in corner. After a few days of trying to get out she resorted to crying out.

The lady living in the unit was a little deaf but thankfully her family came from Melbourne to visit her at the weekend and heard Tameka. They couldn't get her out so called the local SES and Tameka was rescued with extraordinary difficulty by a member of the SES being held by his feet while he lassoed her and hauled her out. She noe is an indoor girl.

- Lynette

Sybil

Sybil slipped her collar at about 2 pm on Friday 8 December. She was in the care of her regular dog walker. She disappeared. They were playing in the Woodlands Industrial Estate Environmental Wetlands. We searched until after 6 pm calling for her. There were 3 of us searching and every dog walker took her details from me as well. As it is out of character for Sybil to disappear and not come when called the dog walker and I discussed her behaviour. I said when she was told off she would go outside to the furthest corner of our property and stay there until called. he went back to where she disappeared and saw a flash of white in the vegetation on the edge of the lake. I pushed my way into the mud and reeds and there she was. Covered in mud up to her tummy. Terrified. After a dog wash, she is home. Safe. Happy. I am relieved and grateful.

- C.A.R. Pet Owner

Sora’s Little Journey

Starting from the beginning. I have 3 cats, I was struggling to pay the rent & bills as I was newly divorced. And I had to moved to my parents place but I was only allowed 1 cat as my 2 sisters each had a cat living at my parent's place.

So I had to make a hard decision whether to put them up for adoption or not. I searched in shelters and cat boarding to see who could take my cat in long term until I was stable with my expenses and had a new home.

I also asked my sister to help post on her instagram for help as well. Within 20 minutes there I met Kathleen. She was happy to take my cats in for the long term and look after them. After my cats settled down with her for at at least 2-3weeks.

On a Tuesday evening I got an urgent call from Kathleen. To say she took Sora out for a walk on a leash. But he managed to escape. And ran off scared. I was very disappointed but I kept calm and also to calm her down. After my pay went in, I immediately booked a taxi to Braybrook at 1am to find Sora.

I saw Sora coming up to me. I caught him and picked him up but he wiggled out of my arms and ran away again.

I stayed there until 4am with no success. Kathleen, my cats' carer also tried to lure Sora everyday and tried her best to capture him. On my end I posted on Facebook groups, pet boost, Central Animal Records, whatever I could do to get Sora home.

First week of Sora missing, a lady offered me her animal trap to try our luck. We ALWAYS put fresh food and litter out for Sora. And I went to Braybrook once a week to try help capture Sora.

On the 3rd week my siblings, my cousin, Kathleen, Kathleen's friend and I all stayed out camping after 9pm to try capture Sora. It was funny when one of us captured the wrong cat in the trap.

We stayed out camping with cookies, hot chocolate & cookies for 6 hours straight just so we could try to catch Sora.

It was a fun experience but sadly we couldn’t capture him. 4th week and still nothing. I almost gave up because Sora went further away from home. I felt like there’s no hope, and I decided to let Sora be.

All I could do at that point was hope that he will one day come back home and, just today Monday 27/11/2023, I got a message from my cats' carer that Sora was home safe in a trap that the lady provided us. Kathleen showed me the picture of Sora and I couldn’t believe it at all. I was over joyed and at the same time emotional and I cried. I prayed so hard almost every night before bed for Sora’s safe return home. The lord answered my prayers. I’m so happy he is now having a warm bath, groomed and has his new collars on looking all new and handsome tuxedo cat.

- Amy

Cat Stuck Down The Water Tanks

Benni dissapeared at 10:00pm I rattled her food and keys at 12, 2 and 5 am up and down my street and the next. Then in the morning at 9 am when she still hadn't made an appearance I called every shelter and vet nearby to try and find her. I continued shaking food down the street for the rest of the day every couple of hours. Then at 7pm I went into the house across the road front yard and rattled ,I heard her meow and found her stuck between 5 20L water tanks, after trying with a fishing net and rope to get her out for 30 minutes I got a thick blanket that she could claw onto and lowered it down she gripped on and we hoisted her up to safety.

- Jamea

A Nightmare That Lasted 16 Months

June 20th 2022 I get home and go to feed faded and her sister, I can only find her sister and can't seem to see her anywhere. 24 hours past and she still does not show up, panic mode started to set in so I went searching, I searched everywhere possible, put posters in every letterbox. Unfortunately I moved out of my mother home which faded lived in, a few months had passed and my mother then moved from that residence..... I would go search for her in my spare time. Fast track 16 months, I receive a call that someone handed faded into the vet. She went missing at 8months old and returned being 2years old.... it's a miracle, she was healthy and fed. She was 7 suburbs away approx 15 kms from where she was missing. She was lured for months with food and finally the awesome lady that gained her trust got her to the vet asap. Her microchip was flagged as missing and I made sure to post her everywhere although if it Wasn't for the microchip I would not have my baby 16 months later safe and fat!!! Photo when found and photo of what she looked like missing being a kitten.

- Sarah

The Mysterious Vanishing Cat

It was a sunny afternoon much like any other. My parents were shifting house and had brought some of my old furniture that, had been stored in their garage, over to give back to me. Whilst they were unloading the furniture from the trailer, someone had opened up the boot of their station wagon to get something out. It was loaded up with things that they were taking to their new house. My father had been standing at the trailer the whole time the boot was open to ensure nothing went missing.I remember going inside and seeing Silk sitting on the island between the lounge and the dining room. I scratched her behind the ear and gave her a bump, not knowing that this was the last time that I would see her.

I walked away and finished helping my parents unload my furniture. They drove off and I continued with my day.That night I called the cats for dinner and only one came in. Silk was an inside cat and rarely ventured outside for more than a few minutes at a time, so this was strange behaviour for her. She had stayed out all night once before, but this was during summer, and it was now a very cold early spring.I called and called her. When usually she came, this day she did not. I tried not to worry and thought I would see her in the morning waiting to be let inside. In the morning there was no sign of her. I immediately made up some posters and flyers to deliver to the letter boxes of the houses directly surrounding us, and a street across where she sometimes would hang out.I door knocked on every house within the vicinity that silk would have had the capacity to reach. I put posts in lost pest Facebook groups, and checked all of the lost and found, and buy, swap and sell sites that I could find. We made regular calls and visits to the local animal rescue centre. So much so that we became familiar faces around the place. I even delivered 200 flyers offering a reward for information leading to her whereabouts, throughout the neighborhood.

Despite all of my efforts, the search was fruitless. Weeks turned into a month, yet I still hoped and believed that she would walk in the door like nothing had happened.The family were devastated at her disappearance, and no one could quite understand or get over the mystery of her sudden disappearance.7 weeks went by, almost two whole months. One day in the beginning of the 8th week we got a call from the animal rescue centre. Good news, a black cat had been trapped and surrendered to the ranger. We made the trip to the animal rescue centre not wanting to get our hopes up just in case it was a false call, as had happened once before, with a cat that looked almost identical, who was the same age, and had a microchip number that was almost the same.Hallelujah, the cat coming down the hallway in the cage was Silk. They told us she was pretty skinny so we thought we were prepared, but that didn't even begin to describe the condition it was in. She had been away for 51 days, how she survived is a wonder. You can see/feel many of the bones in her body. She barely weighs a kilo. They told us she was captured two streets away from my parents' new house. It turns out she must have gotten into the back of their car whilst no one was looking, and escape without being seen, when they opened it up at the new house.

If it weren't for her microchip, the animal rescue centre may not have been able to identify her. But because I had made the investment to have her and our other cat microchipped, Silk is now safe at home, getting fattened up and returning to her old life. If you're thinking of microchipping your pet, I highly recommend it. You never know when you're going to need it.

- Lyndell

My Pets Journey

Our little 10 year old boy travelled 7Kms away from home was missing for 3 days.. he was sighted on the 3rd day in several areas but didn't let anyone pick him up he just kept running until I got a phone call from a lady that sighted him 5 mins from where my son was and he was able to make it in time to call him out and he came running to him with excitement. He came home very dirty and exhausted, we bathed him and he fell asleep with us around him.. the most happiest moment of our lives .

- Michelle

7 Long Months

We moved to a new house last year. We thought our backyard is safe enough, but Cinnamon jumped over the fence. Unfortunately since the area was all new to her - she didn't find her way back. We reported her missing in January to the council and also posted on a few different Facebook groups. We had a family, who found a very similar looking cat, unfortunately it wasn't her. And 7 months later I got the unexpected call in the morning. A nice lady found Cinnamon. We picked her up immediately - she must have been with someone in that seven months. She looked well-fed, relaxed - may never found out, who looked after her. We are grateful to have her again, the challenge now will be to befriend her with the rescue kittens we got in the meantime...

- Gabor

Missing!

Skippy was let out of the house about 7am Saturday morning and never came back for breakfast! This is not like him. Spring is in the air so maybe he's just gone bush? Monday morning came and still no sign so we got to work with leaflet drop, lost pet sites, animal hospitals and local vets. Tuesday morning and no sightings at all. At 4pm Tues (the time he usually makes an appearance) I decide to ask at a house a few doors down with an untidyish garden that he could maybe be hiding in? They kindly let me through into the back yard to call "Skippy, Skippy". And goodness me, there was an answering "miaow"! Not in that yard but from the house behind.

I zipped around the block and discover a laneway, and there was Skippy's nose peeking out under the brick wall of the shed. He'd gone under the decking through a very small opening and couldn't get out! Owner Sophy of that house was so helpful, & hadn't heard a peep. We ended up having to remove two fence palings and then he could see his path out. Fortunately, Andrew had the skills to replace two palings! But I still wonder if Skippy hadn't actually heard me calling, would he have just quietly starved there?

- Heather

A 10 Month Community Effort

Some of you may remember this face from 15th of May last year? This is a long story.. a 10 month long story in fact! So please don't commit if you're in the middle of cooking dinner! Just enjoy these pictures and know there is a happy ending! Finally!!Bramble had a history of abuse prior to his adoption as a palliative care dog from the Lost Dogs Home, so he was a bit nervous. When he arrived at his new home in Kilmore, transported by his new owner’s son, he jumped out of the car and ran. I know all too well how fast he is!!! So many people in Kilmore were heartbroken for this poor scared soul out there on his own and assisted in trying to capture him. There were multiple sightings and chases, but he was just too afraid and too fast for anyone to have a chance. The daughter of owner was posting on Facebook from Sydney so I coordinated people and equipment down here. She passed on any information she was given for me to act on. I’m sure it was difficult for her being so far away.For the first month I didn't do much more than that aside driving around after a sighting was reported. I put out a call for a trap which was answered by Lou in Clonbinane. Dani, Nat and Susan set it up and kept check.

NOTHING Cherie made posters and put them up all over Kilmore.After some time of no sightings there was a devastating sheep massacre and Bramble's face was again plastered all over face book with a $1000 for his head. I pleaded his very strong case with the farmer but I was completely ignored and he continued to post Bramble’s face everyday. Never let reason get in the way of a lynching! We know it was never him, aside from the fact that he was too weak at this stage, none of the sheep were eaten and we would later learn what a gentle giant he truly is. The poor owner of the 17 sheep suffered a terrible loss and the trauma of seeing the remains would have been an awful lot to bear, but even they did not blame Bramble.He disappeared for a month after that and we thought the farmers had won. Nothing we could do! Such an awful feeling.On 28th of June ( which just happens to be my daughter’s birthday) owner’s daughter messaged me there was a sighting!!! Now we had to keep this very quiet from the community. There had been no further sheep attacks but we were still afraid they would get him before we did. This made the past 8 months incredibly difficult for me, having to keep a closed circle of trusted allies when we could have used so much community help and also asked for donations rather than the thousands we have had to spend to bring him home. I reached out to my friend Dee in dog rescue and she set me with a few chubs of dog food a bed, collar, lead and some other essentials. We thought it was going to be so easy. At this point Mary-Anne introduced me to a beautiful lady who does this sort of thing all the time, Tina with her tracker dog Link! What a beautiful pair who have now become life long friends and once of my most valued supporters. Tina's heart is bigger than Texas!

With some expert advice and someone passionate enough to commit with me we went to the sighting area. Tina waited the whole afternoon and sure enough as we were told, there he was walking the Ridge of the hills on a Property in Kilmore East at 3.30.The property Bramble had chosen to live on couldn't have been better for him to avoid capture, but it was also very safe. Of all the farmlands, this massive property belonged to a kind gentleman named Paul who has not only given me complete access to his property but fed Bramble if I was held up, carted equipment up the hill for me, spent all night in the cold on some of our many many capture missions and just been amazing all around! So, I walked up the big hill for the first time ever ..took me a few stops back then!! It's about 2k up and back. I set up trail cams provided by Tina and left food provided by Mary-Anne ( who has been my amazing support from the very start and all through this saga, as she always has been with anything animal related) .

First day I checked footage...nothing but the food was gone. Next day, half hearted I left the cam 2 nights. When I checked the SD cards at home my heart was in my throat. I was so excited to see him, but he was skin and bone, dragging himself with his head hanging low and tail between his legs. These were my first of soooo many tears over this boy! We asked for the trap from Lou again and put it in the spot he was coming to on the hill with a big juicy steak from Lou. The next day the trap was off.. but no animal. I took the SD card home to check and my heart sunk. He had gone straight in!! But being a big dog he had stretched in leaving his legs out so when the door came down it hit him on the bum...and this right here was our undoing and the start of 8 more months of the expert Bramble Patented trap avoidance technique!We reached out to Nigel from Nigel's Animal Rescue who is based way down South of Melbourne. Nigel has spent his entire life dedicated to animals and now makes a living from assisting people with non wildlife predicaments, but due to our circumstances made the very long drive to Kilmore to set up his trailer size trap. Every morning and every night I went up, reset and checked the trap. Every time I approached a closed door I held my breath!! Usually a raven or a magpie ..or nothing! So the trap sat there for months and month and months..ready to go.. but Bramble wasn’t having any of it!!I was up there one morning doing my feed and check and down the hill I see Bramble bounding towards me with his ears and tail up, tongue out. OMG!! He’s just going to come to me! Nope, just tricking! 10 metres from me it was as though realisation kicked in that he is not that dog anymore, he is scared dog..and he skulked off down the hill. I’ve never chased him, we have had many more similar encounters but it’s always the same end, he hesitates, then he skulks off watching that I do not chase. I am not great with times, but our next step was to involve a darter. I had been consulting Ange who has been a dear dog rescue friend for years and introduced me to Saskia from Forever Friends Animal Rescue. We have to this day been communicating on a regular basis brainstorming.

By this time Bramble had stopped coming during the day and was completely nocturnal so all operations were at night. This boy is the most intelligent animal I have ever encountered. He has changed and adapted, his sixth sense is impeccable (or he’s been hacking my text messages).Saskia put me onto Dr Alistair, a vet and darter for Vets for Compassion. So after some discussion Alistair spent his first if many nights in Kilmore waiting for an opportunity to dart. Now the terrain that Bramble was on made it ideal to hide. But VERY difficult for humans to navigate, with steep hills, gullies filled with blackberry mazes, wombat holes, fox dens etc. I had been hiking up and down to find him a few times. I did one day find a bone from a deceased Kangaroo that had disappeared from his final resting spot and then I heard a growl from deep inside the blackberries. There was no way to get to him there so it never became part of the plan. The first few times Alistair was on the job, Bramble came...but in the dark with only a few of us he was afraid for Bramble's welfare once he ran. Animals don't just drop once tranquillised, they can run a very long way in the 10-20 minutes it takes to effect them and we knew Bramble would do just that! With foxes present this is a big worry. So many more attempts had different approaches but the more people involved and the more Bramble evolved to being a dog in survival mode, the more he sensed our presence and stopped showing up if anything was off. No matter how tame a dog is, once he has to survive on his own, survival mode sets in and the longer he is out there, the more he adapts.Tina was doing research, as she always does and found that in America they use a “Missy Trap”, which is a walk-in, pulley system, side opening trap. I got in contact with an organisation in NSW called Missy's Search and Rescue. This group is dedicated to lost animals and are just amazing people, we need someone like this down here in Victoria! They have been in contact with me for months, advising, encouraging. Priceless!!

So now I have multiple Facebook conversation groups going in from multiple experts in multiple areas! Mary Anne sourced a similar size cage and her hubby Dan being the amazing mind he is, developed his own version of the Missy Trap which will be used in future for rescues. But still Bramble would not have a bar of it!!! We took it apart and put it back piece by piece. But this dog was a very fast learner and there was a huge NOPE from him!! So I continued every day to feed and hope. By now I was running up the hill!! Bramble has done wonders for my fitness levels!!Now we are approaching Christmas. I was going away and we were all feeling defeated by this beautiful clever boy. At this time I was also a wildlife carer ( well I am still but took a break to concentrate on Bramble) with responsibility for multiple possums and I was a complete mess. Everything in my life was affected and some of my loved ones were begging me to give up.. but I just couldn't!! For me to stop what I was doing was to kill him! Every single night I watched all of the videos from the trail cam. The purpose was to record the time he arrived and when he left,( I kept a running log sheet through this rescue to find his patterns and times we might save him) but I felt compelled to watch every movement he made! I watched echidnas, ringtail possums and sheep eat his food as he stood to the side waiting for them to finish. Never ever a threat to their safety. I watched him run from a deer, terrified! I watched him waltz through the many mobs of kangaroos on the property, they didn't move because he was so familiar to them and never a threat. I have hours of video footage that you cannot deny! This dog I believe has never killed even to survive. .. he did drag a long dead smelly kangaroo out of the dam and roos that I had seen on the property already deceased were eaten too. But to see that face with another animal he could easily tear apart. He just didn't have it in him!!!Getting towards Christmas it became just a matter of feeding him.

No plans were made as we had tried them all. I was going on holidays for two weeks so there was no point getting him in because where would he stay while I was gone? God I needed that holiday !! Mary-Anne took over feeding duty. I didn't realise how messed up I was until I had to sit still. Everything was done for me, washing, cooking, looking after kids . I had my cats to look after but that was it! I had anxiety attacks in paradise worse than I've ever had and on the 8th day I stood in the water watching my kids enjoy themselves, fully supervised by my Aunt and suddenly I couldn't breathe!! And the tears came like a tidal wave! The breakdown I desperately needed to have to continue on. When I returned Mary-Anne had already fed him that day. But I HAD TO GO!!! Paul was there and laughed at my obsession with this kid! Since Christmas it's been all about Bramble and how to get him to safety. All my resolutions to put myself first, live as normal as possible went out the window! Summer was especially dangerous, especially when you see a massive red belly black snake wrap around the camera and the chance of fire is imminentAlistair came once again and tried. ..and again..and again.There had been a dog abandoned in Beveridge I had followed on Facebook. Many were talking about it but I told them one person needed to take charge of the rescue and I would pass on my experiences. I didn't hear much and then found he'd been saved by a girl who had Facebook friended me over our hatred for fireworks and the effects on animals. We were both keeping our rescues quiet!! Courtney and I started discussing options and she and her partner Vincent came to help. Alistair and I had made a plan to use two phones as a nanny cam to watch Bramble eat sedated food.. I really wasn't sure how it would work..but we were going to try! It turned out that Courtney had an amazing 4G camera that totally changed the game! It actually changed the game so much that I bought a second $500 camera so we could view a larger area! I felt like we finally had a chance.Courtney and Vincent came to help that night...I did my normal routine and set up his food area, hid food for foraging, change the batteries and sd on trail cams and I also installed the 4g cam. I was soooo excited! Of all the plans I was certain this was it!! His normal time of arrival was 8ish. ...so we watched, 8, 9, 10, 11.. nothing!! I couldn't understand! For the next 3 nights he didn't come at all! He had NEVER not showed up at least once during the night in the 9 months of monitoring his fees station. I fell to pieces ..were we too late? Had he been bitten by a snake or shot by a farmer? It was hot as hell but I hiked and hiked looking for signs that he was alive. In the previous weeks I had seen him during the day, running from the sound of my footsteps. But there was nothing and I cried and cried.

The only change to the feeding station was the camera on a slim piece of timber around 6 foot. Surely that was not a deterrent, but as it was the only change we moved it to a tree. Bramble showed up that night!! But not till late.Moni has is a Trust Technique practitioner and joined our team via Tina. She had taught Mary Anne and I this technique and offered her help with Bramble. We went out and Monika worked her magic! A beautiful deer and her baby came in to find out what all this calmness was about and I had a great nap there on the ground and Bramble started coming back at his regular time.Courtney by this stage was consulting Dr Elaine from Vets for Compassion who had assisted her in capturing Collin (Beveridge dog). Elaine asked that Courtney and Vinnie build hides aka tree houses for the darters to hide in and so they built these wonderful constructions my kids were absolutely thrilled with! Others joked that I now had somewhere to live to be with my dog! We planned for the night to happen and we had a number of amazing volunteers from Vets for Compassion on board. Dr Elaine, Dr Chris and Dr Alistair as darters who I drove up to their places so as not to leave their scent in the feeding area. On the ground we had vet nurse Jackie, drone pilot for thermal drone Brendan and Wildlife rescuer Kim...all waiting. But Bramble knew they were there! This guys knows all!!!!! He senses the slightest change. (or.. as we’ve often suspected, he is truly hacking my messages!) So we all convened after a no show and discussed our next move.Alistair had researched the food sedation technique further so we decided as a team the following night that was what we would do. I did everything I do normally. Leaving sedated food and a massive amount of food for foraging! We met far away from the area at Trackside, the 3 vets and Narelle, also a wildlife rescuer and carer while Courtney watched the camera from home. All of us had the phone apps for the cameras so we watched and waited. I had not gotten my hopes up. I have lost count of how many missions there had been so I was ready to go home and continue the effort another day. But at 8.15 my phone pinged!!!!. He was there!!!! He went straight for sedated food!! We ooooed and ahhhhed as he stumbled around the feeding station waiting for him to lay down, but he is a stubborn boy! It took two hours for him to go down, he tried with all his might to get up but his back legs weren’t cooperating! We rushed to the property and loaded up all we needed.. I think it was record time getting there although I was carrying more than I ever had and was also watching him on my phone as I ran incase he moved!! The poor darling was quite startled ..but he couldn't get far, the vets had their dart guns ready and I had a slip lead ready, it was not too hard to loop it around and I held on for dear life talking to assure him. ..I don't know who it was that injected the sedation!! It was such an amazing moment!! And then we knew he was safe. And I sobbed and laughed and ...God I can't even describe!! The vets checked him over thoroughly and aside a scar or two he sure doesn't look like a dog who has lived in the bush 10 months! We transported him home to my house where I had doubly secured my cat enclosure so there is no chance he'd get out no matter how frightened he was. They checked him again and made sure his surrounds were safe then all made their long journeys home finally!!! For the last time! Our chat is still constant with videos etc. So they can advise and instruct me.

So I spent all of Sunday night watching my beautiful man. He woke up around 4am quite anxious but very groggy. I lay with him and patted him back to sleep after he scoffed some food. I made the most of cuddles while he was sedated thinking it would be a long road before he would allow me to touch him again! When he woke properly, he looked around and found a spot in the sun. I talked to him and checked on him every few minutes Early afternoon he came running to me and I admit that I absolutely sh$% myself, he’s a big boy!! But I found he was running to me not at me!!! He was looking for comfort! I couldn’t believe it. He plonked his head on my lap and looked up at me. I asked him to walk with me and he did...stops when I stopped. He is amazing! He must be relieved to be safe as I am to have him safe! And I have to say it’s a massive relief to my kids to not have to make sure we have driven across town and hiked up the big hill before sunset every single day to leave food and change the camera batteries and SD card and check what is on it! Throughout this very very long effort I have met so many beautiful people who share a love for animals. Many of these people have become friends I will always cherish. I have had wonderful support from my work colleagues at Kilmore Primary School and my Mum…OMG my Mum!! I have lost track of the late nights she had looking after my children while I was out on Bramble missions! South Side Stock feed donated a some bags of food early in the saga and Dani has always had a present for him every time I have seen her!! I am so sorry if I have missed anyone in this story!! Please let me know so I can add you in! I am blown away by the kindness of the Vets For Compassion team! All such beautiful people, but also very very clever, dedicated and knowledgeable! All of their after hours work in wildlife and domestic, all the equipment and medication they use, all kindness and giving replying only on donations!Vets For Compassion I had expected Bramble’s recovery story to be a very very long one, but he is showing all the right signs of being an beautiful family member. Watch this space!!! I cannot thank everyone involved enough!!! What a community!

- Tamika

Reuniting A Pet With Their Parents After 3 Months

I work at a veterinary clinic and one day we had a man hand in a stray cat that was hanging around his garden. Upon checking the microchip we had contacted the owner whereby she was very emotional as the cat had been missing for 3 months. The owner had recently just donated all her cat's items as she was certain the cat would not be coming home. She mentioned the cat was outside in her front garden with her children but when the children went inside quickly they heard a car speed off and no cat in site. She believes the cat was stolen. When the family came into the clinic to re-unite with the cat they brought us bottles of champagne and were crying with love and joy and very thankful their fur baby was in good health. Whoever did take her from them lived about 30 minutes away. It was a great reunion story we still talk about to this day.

- Alexis

Microchip Win!

Our female tabby went missing when we moved house. She was missing for more than 18 months when someone handed her in to a vet's office. They scanned her and found her microchip. They were able to contact me directly as I keep my details up to date, and now she has been reunited with us. Thanks very much

- Bronwyn

Found After 4 Weeks

After being missing for 4 weeks, our cat was found accidentally locked in by wire under a neighbours house. The wire was to keep out possums, but was put up without realising a cat was under the house. Although not found through his microchip, it was reassuring to know that if he had arrived at a Lost and Found facility that we would be contacted because our contact details are up to date on the Central Animal Records. Now updated to reflect that he is home and no longer missing.

- Rose

Summer's Adventure

On Monday my mum fell over and thumped to the ground. I was frightened and I ran away. Mum's friend tried to catch me but I was too fast. I went across the road, to the chemist, through a car park, and then across a really busy road and went to the big green park called Civic Park. Some people were trying to catch me but I ran and ran, my lead dragging behind me.

I think my mum and dad would have been upset as they love me very much, but I was very scared so I hid under the bushes. Lots of people started looking for me. I did not know what they wanted, they were not mum and dad. Mum let lots of people know I was missing. I know now she was crying and praying. Lots of prayers were said for me.

I was away for 2 nights, mum had dressed me in a warm coat before I ran away and I found somewhere I could hide and keep warm. I barked but mum could not hear me and I kept running away from anyone trying to catch me.

This morning someone saw me very early and rang my mum. Dad and my family came and a man caught me. When I saw my family I was so happy. I kissed my dad all over his face. He cuddled me and we all went home. Mum was waiting for me and she cuddled me and took my dirty puppy coat off and washed my clothes. She bathed me, fed me, cuddled me and took me out for the day in the car.

Mum did hurt her knee when she fell, it has a big bruise. And she banged her nose on the ground and it has a bump and bruise too, and she said she aches. But she is super happy. My adventure is over. I am home. Thank you everyone for caring about us.

- Brenda

Birthday Miracle

With lots of tears and joy, Bella is now home after nearly 3 months of being missing.
 
Bella was found by a lovely couple who continued to feed her until they could get close enough to take her in. Bella was very reserved at first but eventually warmed up to the couple who took her to the vet and allowed her to return home to her family. Bella turned 2 the day she came home. This day was not only her 2nd birthday but it was her 2nd chance.
 
No matter how much time passed, we never gave up hope on our little family member. We thank everyone who helped - the couple for their patience, the vet for treating her, and anyone who looked for Bella over the time she was gone.
 
Photo: Bella (right) & Bear who is Bella's bio dad (left)

- Georgia

Rocky Is Back & Happy

He left us on 31/03/23 being curious and trying to find out whats there in the backyard, he was missing till 2/04/23 morning 10.30am.
 
We were sure that he would never be away from us for so long unless he was stolen or injured. When we found him, his left back leg was broken, his teeth were broken and four more injuries which inidcated the vet that it was a hit and run.
 
We really wish that whoever hit him with the car had the human decency of notifying us so that he could have gotten the medical attention required.
 
He is now hospitalised and will undergo surgery soon. We are thankful for the people who found him in there backyard and rang us straight away. We beg you all, if you ever meet an accident please have the decency to be informative. You have no idea what families go through looking for their missing family member.

- Sopal

Slipped Out Undetected

Toodles the cat escaped undetected during a pizza delivery. My view was obstructed by the pizza box. Toodles loves to eat grass. Toodles very old is a diabetic with renal failure and is very skinny but has the heart of a kitten. We searched the neighbourhood into the night with flashlight and then I was up at dawn canvassing the construction workers in our new development to keep an eye out.

Throughout the day I would roam the neighbourhood in the rain calling out to him. Also I contacted the local VET offices in hopes that he would be taken in by a animal lover as he looks like a bag of bones due to his medical condition. I placed a post on the community Facebook page and also updated his CAR and registered him with council and the Home for lost Dogs.

We had concerns that with his medical condition he would not last without food and his medication. My efforts payed off after 26hrs of him missing I received a call from my VET saying that Toodles had been found. My heart was overjoyed. He is back home warm and safe.

- Mary

Miracle Boy

After being missing for 3 months our beautiful ginger cat, Bongo was found! He was found under a house about 1 km away from home. We don't know where he went for whole 3 months but he had gotten his collar caught under his front leg which had wounded him quite badly which made it hard for him to walk and was very skinny.
 
After such a long time away we thought he must have been stolen or passed away so had grieved for him and were very heartbroken. But then we got the call and our miracle boy came home to us and the vet said he'll be back to himself really soon 🐾💖

- Emma

Found After 4 Weeks Missing

Our cat came home last night, after almost 4 weeks missing!! We could not believe it. He came home after we had a chat on the street with our family friend, that he knew as well, in front of our house. We are so overjoyed. Thank you very much everyone for all your help, physically or mentally during the search.

- C.A.R. Pet Owner