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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, June 23, 2010 · 16 Emma found after a real community effort By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF What luck that Mississauga's Tim Schafer was released from hospital on the same day his frightened and hungry dog was found through a community effort after five days of being lost. He was in a traffic collision on Saturday, June 12 on the Queen Elizabeth Way at Third Line. When emergency crews arrived, his dog, Emma, ran away. Schafer was in hospital until late Thursday afternoon. Emma meanwhile was roaming the residential community around Third Line. Countless members of the community became involved in trying to find the dog after hearing the story, and she was finally caught Thursday night, a few hours after her owner returned home. Now, Emma, a hound-German Shepherd mix, and Schafer are together again. "It was a team effort," said Darlene Lister, Schafer's friend who first told the story to the Oakville Beaver. "If it wasn't for the community effort we wouldn't have found her." Lister was involved with the search for the dog while Schafer remained in hospital. Lister was dropping Schafer off home from the hospital last Thursday when she Emma received a call of a sighting from someone living on Giles Gate. The Oakville and Milton Humane Society was also called and a search started at around 5 p.m. "People just came out of their houses and joined in the search," Lister said. "People had mobile phones and we all separated into different parts of the community and they made calls giving us her latest location. We'd get up to her, see her, but we couldn't grab her." After three hours, Lister said she and her husband nearly gave up searching and then another sighting call came in. "An elderly gentleman tried to chase her, but couldn't catch up to her. They saw her cross Third Line with all the traffic," Lister said. Terry stopped his car on the side of the road and ran after the dog. A group of youths, who were playing hockey, saw Emma and tried catching her. Then, George and Noreen Duross were returning home in their car when they saw people chasing the dog. "There were so many people," Noreen said. "There was a girl, probably 12 or 13 years old, and she was racing, trying to catch the dog. That's what caught my eye in the first place, this kid running after her." The couple pulled over on the side of Third Line after the dog crossed it and George joined in the chase. "I wasn't going to run after her. I just stayed by our car and I saw everybody run back," Noreen said. "I heard my husband yell, `She's doubled back.' And I looked at her and she was trotting along. I called her and she came to me and I picked up her leash. I did nothing heroic, but I was the lucky one and grabbed the leash." After Noreen grabbed the leash, Terry grabbed Emma. "I think she was frightened because everyone was chasing her and I was just standing there and I guess she wasn't worried about it, so she came right up to me," Noreen said. "Poor little dog. She still had that leash and collar on." Lister said Emma may have lost between 5 to 10 pounds in the five days she was lost. "She's very well," she added. "She has no cuts, no injuries, she's very lucky. She slept about 12 hours in each of the last three days trying to catch up on her sleep." Lister was thankful to the people who helped to look for the dog. "People basically took two to three hours that night to help search for the dog," she said. "The key was the community coming out and the cell phones. I've never appreciated cell phones so much." Paula Fleming, of the Oakville and Milton Human Society, who helped in the search, said the key to finding a dog is to receive calls of sightings. "Having a positive sighting let us know she was sticking around the area. It's sort of a needle in a haystack until someone calls in," she said. Fleming added finding a dog is not rare as long as people make the calls. Fleming added people who see a domesticated animal, such as a dog, roaming around, should call the humane society as the animal's owner may be looking for it.