Two years after going missing, an adorable Saint Bernard dog named Bear has finally been reunited with his owners, thanks to a group of kind-hearted animal lovers and volunteers.
In April 2022, Bear escaped from his pet sitter in Colorado Springs. His family reported him missing and shared his plight on various Facebook groups in hopes of finding him. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain.
“The saddest part is that they had to leave Colorado Springs without their beloved pet dog because the military was relocating them to New York,” the Pikes Peak Humane Association posted on their Facebook page.
In July 2024, an animal control officer received an alert about a Saint Bernard dog spotted at a construction site in Colorado Springs. The officer contacted Linda Gooden, a dedicated volunteer who helps lost dogs.
“We didn’t know who this dog was, who it belonged to, (or) if it had an owner,” the 62-year-old Gooden told Epoch Times. “We only knew it had been there for a while.”
Shortly after, Gooden, who resides in Florida, contacted her volunteer team in Colorado Springs: Tami Thilman and Amber. They set up a trap.
Meanwhile, Gooden recalled seeing a post about a missing Saint Bernard dog not long ago. A quick search revealed that a Saint Bernard dog did go missing two years ago. The location of its disappearance was near the construction site.
“What are the odds?” Gooden said.
Thilman surveyed the area, talked to the on-site security, obtained permission to set up cameras, and observed Bear’s movements electronically for a week before setting up a trap.
“She would go out at night because the dog was always roaming around at night,” Gooden said. “I figured she was outside around seven or eight at night and she would stay out until one or two in the morning.”
Soon, Thilman’s investigation confirmed Gooden’s suspicion: Bear was indeed the dog missing for two years.
“She examined it closely, and then we started comparing the markings on him,” Gooden said.
Eventually, Thilman began using treats to lure the dog into a specific area. A week later, Amber set up a trap – a large humane trap she built herself designed to catch canines. They then brought out “high-value” food – roasted chicken or Vienna sausages – to entice the Saint Bernard into the trap.
One day, as they sat in their car watching the dog’s movements, they were amazed to see that 45 minutes later, it had entered the trap and was waiting quietly.
“They said it was very calm,” Gooden said. “It was just lying there.”
“In the past, some dogs would try to climb up the trap and try to get out, or they would get scared and dig holes in the ground. But it didn’t do that.”
Bear’s condition was obviously not the best. He was thin, his hip bones visible, his fur dirty and matted, and overall disheveled. However, he didn’t appear to have been severely neglected.
“It doesn’t look like a dog that’s been on its own for over two years,” Gooden said, speculating that someone may have been caring for him, or at least feeding him.
After capturing the dog, the volunteer team scanned his microchip, which turned out to be a match: he was Bear, the missing Saint Bernard from two years ago.
Bear’s owner, Brandy Ross, was “completely shocked” but delighted by the news and wanted to bring him back to their home in New York.
As an experienced manager of a lost and found pets group, Gooden has numerous connections in the animal management field. One of them, a dog boarder named Danielle Neiner, agreed to care for Bear for two weeks until he could go to New York.
After grooming and a veterinary check-up, they learned that aside from losing about 30 pounds, Bear was in excellent health.
On September 1, a pet transport business operator in Colorado Springs brought Bear to New York for the joyful reunion with his family.
The reunion was heartwarming. Ross had last seen Bear when he was about three years old.
“She came out, still in disbelief,” Gooden said, “but she walked up to Bear and started gently petting him, talking softly to him, and you could see his tail start wagging. He got more and more excited but still a little unsure.”
The five-year-old Bear felt more comfortable by Ross’s side the next day, clearly recognizing he was back home.
“He adjusted very well,” Gooden remarked.
While Gooden had witnessed many reunions before, she said this was one she would always remember.
“Everything fell right into place. There was someone to trap him, someone to keep him safe, and someone to transport him,” she said. “The whole thing just came together, all the good luck converged.”
(Note: The article titled “Everything Fell Right Into Place” about volunteers helping a dog reunite with his owner after he went missing 2 years ago was originally published on the English Epoch Times website.)