After 12 days lost in the wilderness behind Ladysmith, Bono the King Doberman Pinscher, was found alive on the west side of Holland Lake.
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“Seeing him again was so amazing,” his owner Cyan Maretic said. “He looks really thin, and I was so happy to see him for the first time in 12 days.”
Bono’s absence sparked a massive search effort joined by 30 community volunteers that combed the trails behind Ladysmith every day since he went missing on Jan. 26.
Avid backcountry explorer, Shelley Meyers, said she found Bono by coincidence while helping a friend fix their broken down vehicle near Holland Lake.
“I thought I was seeing things,” she said. “My friend had been under the Jeep working for about an hour, then all of the sudden, his dogs started acting weird — like they were smelling something. I wondered if it was Bono.”
“I went to turn around to put my stuff back in my truck, and there’s Bono. He was walking toward me beside my truck.”
Meyers had been up searching for Bono in that same area over the past week and a half. She kept a bag of Milk Bone treats in her truck from her previous search attempts, and fed Bono on the hour long ride down from Holland Lake.
“He didn’t eat much, but he ate quick. He was laying with his head on my shoulder the whole way down the mountain,” Meyers said. “I’m still in shock.”
Once Bono was reunited with his mom, he was taken to the vet. Maretic said Bono was deemed healthy, although he’s quite a bit more thin than he was 12 days ago.
“He’s strong we’re strong. Never in my life have I ever experienced anything as beautiful as this,” Maretic said. “Thank you to my friends I’ve known and thank you to the friends I’ve made… I’m relieved and over the moon happy.”
