THE second of two dogs lost on the North Shore mountains was reunited with her owners Thursday after going missing in the bush for 10 days.
Ellie Mae, a four-year-old bloodhound missing on Grouse Mountain, walked out of the bush Thursday afternoon and up to her owners Liz Gurszki and Rob Pierce.
"We cried and cheered," said Gurszki of the emotional reunion. Gurszki said she couldn't ask for a better Christmas present than having Ellie Mae back home. "She's being treated like a queen," said Gurszki.
"She'll probably be getting a GPS system for her Christmas present," Gurszki added. "This won't be happening again."
Ellie Mae went missing after getting spooked by a falling branch while up on the Powerline Trail by Grouse Mountain Dec. 3. Gurszki said she was off her leash for just a few minutes when "a tree snapped and she ran."
Gurszki said she suspects the dog didn't venture far from where she went missing and instead found somewhere to hide.
"She's probably lost five to 10 pounds," said Gurszki. The dog also emerged with scratches, an injury to her tail and a tick on her leg. Otherwise, however, she was unharmed.
One not-so-happy twist to the story is that one of the dogs searching for Ellie Mae has now also gone missing, making it the third dog missing in the mountains in recent weeks.
Griffin, a mixed breed dog that looks like a lean black lab, took off near the Powerline Trail. "He's never run away before," said Gurszki.
For a while, "We were looking for two dogs instead of one."
It was actually while Gurszki, Pierce and friends were discussing how to continue the search for Griffin that Ellie Mae made her appearance.
Gurszki said she's hoping searchers will be able to find Griffin before the weekend is out.
Last weekend, North Shore Rescue was called in to rescue a Bernese mountain dog named Ohly who had been missing on Mount Seymour for more than 10 days. The rescue team got involved after concerns spread that volunteers might follow the dog into treacherous terrain known as Suicide Gully.
