A professional dog tracker was brought to Princeton on the weekend to help capture Mordy, a Labradoodle from Abbotsford, who has been missing in the area since Aug. 26.
Al MacLellan is the owner of Pet Searchers Canada, from Surrey.
Monday night, after spending three days in town, MacLellan was hunkered down close to the KVR near the red bluffs, where the dog was spotted earlier in the day.
He had staff, special equipment and bloodhounds.
“We are hoping he will appear,” he said in an interview with The Spotlight. “But all you can do is get everything ready and it will happen when it will happen.”
Mordy’s owner Angie Palfrey said she and her husband Jared have been devastated by Mordy’s absence.
Mordy is four years old, and was adopted at 12 weeks.
“We have six children and some of them suffer from anxiety. Mordy is a very important part of our family.”
Mordy was in the care of Palfrey’s niece, and visiting her grandmother in Princeton, when the dog escaped from a yard.
The family searched for him for three days, and then had to return home, however they have been back several times since to search for their lost member.
“It’s been torture having to be here and not being able to be there.”
One thing that gives the Palfreys hope is the sightings, pictures and videos that are posted to Princeton Facebook groups.
Related: Princeton community rallies together to search for lost Abbotsford dog
“He’s alive and he’s out there. He’s been seen almost every day.”
Palfrey described Mordy as skittish, but according to MacLellan that is a natural condition for a lost pet.
“Any dog that goes missing, they automatically go into survival mode and everyone is a natural predator,” he said.
People are cautioned to not approach Mordy.
“He’s not going to go to anyone. He probably wouldn’t even go to his owner at this point. He’s been chased a few times and a lot of people want to help. All we need is sightings and for people to call.”
Mordy will eventually be captured by a trap or a net, he said.
MacLellan started Pet Searchers fourteen years ago, and since has successfully reunited more than 2,500 dogs and 900 cats with their owners.
Palfrey said she has been “blown away” by the number of people who have helped search for Mordy, posted on social media and sent her private messages.
“It’s been phenomenal…the generosity and the kindness,” she said.
“There isn’t a better place for him to have gotten lost.”
Mordy is short for Mordecia, and he is named after a falcon in the movie The Royal Tenenbaums. That falcon escapes in the film, and eventually returns home.
The Palfrey’s are “very confident” Mordy will do the same.
Anyone spotting Mordy is asked to call Pet Searchers at 604-825-6913.
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