A Fraser Valley woman’s search for her dog continues, three months after he was lost west of Oliver.

Alison Auton Savoie’s white brown husky Arctic went missing near Burnell Lake on June 22. 

“It’s devastating. We’re just so worried, because of his backstory and his trauma, and he’s such a sweet boy. He’s like my kid,” Auton Savoie said.

Auton Savoie has tried many strategies in hopes of finding Arctic including trail cameras, drones and setting up search parties. 

“I’ve had a lot of help too, like a lot of help. I’m not even from the Okanagan and I’ve had just so many people try to help in so many ways,” she said. 

Auton Savoie originally came to the South Okanagan for a four-day business trip, but ended up spending more than eight weeks searching the area before returning home to deal with family matters. She still tries to get back here to search as much as she can.

“Anything for the boy, whatever it takes to try and track them down and bring him back.”

Arctic’s history

Arctic, a retired sled dog was rescued from a cull of dogs which happened in Whistler just after the 2010 Olympics. Varying reports indicate that between 56 and 100 sled dogs were killed over a three day period in April of that year.

Kim Clarke, who was part of the team that helped re-home Arctic and the nearly 200 other dogs that survived the cull, pointed to the fact that Arctic is a husky and a former sled dog, both of which have their own unique challenges.

“Huskies do tend to roam, and when [sled dogs] are first adopted the world is very scary for them, and often if something triggers it. We had one in whistler where their owner fell through a drywall ceiling, and it just triggers that fight or flight mode,” Clarke said.

Clarke also explained that Auton Savoie’s dog is not the first of the rescued dogs to go missing, with one of the dogs missing on Vancouver Island for three month before returning home. 

Animal Readers

Auton Savoie has also sought the help from animal readers, which she described as  “psychics for pets.” 

One she has used works with an organization called FLED (Find Lost and Escaped Dogs) based on Vancouver Island. FLED works closely with the Victoria Humane Society. This close relationship with an organization she trusts made it easier for Auton Savoie to seek help from an unorthodox source.

“I was a little skeptical about the readers at first. But some of the things they say make hair go up on my arms,” she said. 

While the use of these readers has gotten some negative comments on the Finding Arctic Facebook page, Auton Savoie has come to their defence.

“It’s not like they’re kooks and wackos asking me for money and scamming me. These are people that charge 80 bucks an hour and they’re doing this for free. They haven’t asked me or solicited anything from me,” explained Auton Savoie. 

Three separate readers have provided their services including one from the Netherlands, which Auton Savoie takes as a sign that Arctic’s story is being told. 

Multiple Sightings?

Over the three months Auton Savoie has received several tips of potential sightings of Arctic, including one in Okanagan Falls, and another at IGA in Summerland. Some of these end up being different dogs, however Auton Savoie explained she needs to investigate every potential lead. 

“Usually when there’s a sighting, my phone blows up. Social media blows up and then it’s a call to arms,” explained Auton Savoie.

“So I had people all over OK falls, and everyone was looking and then I got a call from the lady who initially called me and she said ‘I don’t think it’s him. I met someone who just moved here and it’s their dog running around OK Falls,’ and within four hours it was home,” she said.

“That is the story I want for Arctic and it never is. And it’s always heartbreaking to see. Not to be selfish, but I see this all the time in the Okanagan. The dogs get home,” she said. 

The days with potential sightings are ones with huge ups and downs, especially if there has been a long time in between them, Auton Savoie explained.

“Sometimes I go like a week without anything. And then there’s a day like that where it’s hope and then stress, worry, concern and then, it’s not Arctic. Then there’s that letdown and that emotional part of it not knowing where he is, but I’m glad to resolve it for someone else,” said Auton Savoie.

She does however ask people who think they might have spotted Arctic to take a photo if possible.

Auton Savoie said while she has had to separate herself emotionally from other people’s stories, they do give her hope. 

“The hope that it gives me is that people know Arctic’s story. They’re still following the Facebook page, the posters work … people are still so involved. Like all of the Okanagan, every community, people have reached out to help. So the hope I have is that, even when I’m not there,  everyone’s looking and everyone cares.”

Going Forward

Auton Savoie has been hoping to get a dog tracking team to help in the search, but that unfortunately hasn’t happened yet. There are only two such units in western Canada, and they were overwhelmed with calls over the summer. 

“I don’t know how long these dog scents last, but I’ve got stuff covered in his scent. And it’s one of the things that we haven’t been able to do, and we still really want to try,” said Auton Savoie.

She is also trying to get the word out to hunters as the season begins. 

“These guys know the area, some of them do have dogs, and they’re going to be out there in the backcountry. So we’re really trying to make them aware,” she said.

Not giving up hope

Clarke said that while she is cognizant that Arctic is an older dog, and the South Okanagan has many potential dangers for dogs she is not giving up hope.

“Eventually oddly enough, [these dogs] eventually end up finding their owner before their owner finds them. They’re resilient dogs and they’ve astounded me more often than not,” said Clarke. 

Auton Savoie agreed and said she is going to keep searching, but she will have to change her strategy when winter comes.

“There’s a lot of possibilities with winter, but I’m going to keep going until then. And when I can’t do the physical search anymore because of the weather, then that will just give me the time and energy to do more social media and reach out in other ways.”

She also pointed to the stories of people who have reached out to her about their own experiences with their lost pets, including one who looked for fifteen years. 

“She never gave up because how do you, right? It’s an ambiguous loss. It’s a loss that has no closure,” Auton Savoie said.

“So reality does start to set in but, do you ever give up on someone you love that goes missing? I mean, yes, he’s at a certain age, but it’s hard for me to put an end point on when I’ll give up,” she said. 

“I haven’t given up yet. And I don’t plan to anytime soon.”