Twin the dog found safe in Kingston after 17 days on the loose

Twin the Dog has been found after 17 days missing near Kingston (Kingston Humane Society)

After a long journey exploring the wooded areas near Kingston, Twin the Retriever is safe and sound after 17 days on the run.

The Kingston Humane Society (KHS) says the two-year-old poosh was found after entering a camera-monitored live trap at around 3 a.m. on Nov. 30 near the Edith Rankin Memorial Church in Kingston's west-end. Twin was then taken to the home of a foster volunteer before returning to the shelter.

The dog had been lost in the woods near Collins Bay and Amherstview since Nov. 13. Since his escape, KHS staff were concerned about finding Twin and were at times uncertain whether he would return at all.

“We were getting regular updates from the team overseeing the attempts to recapture Twin,” said Gord Hunter, executive director of the Kingston Humane Society in a news release.

"But when we would see social media posts by members of the public indicating he might have been bleeding or hit by a car, our concerns were obviously intensified.”

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KHS says the safe return of Twin would not have been possible without Quinte West Lost Paws. For most of the 17 days, the organization organized and a large, committed group of volunteers to track Twin’s travels.

"In most lost dog situations, once the dog’s location has been triangulated, capture becomes a matter of time and patience. Not so with Twin," said Rhonda Guthrie-Taft of Quinte West Lost Paws.

"He would show up and then he would disappear, show up, then disappear again," she recalled.

"In my experience, once you locate a lost dog, you can pretty much set your watch by the way they approach free food but Twin didn’t do that. It’s probably one of the most difficult cases my team has ever encountered."

Twin, who is one of five adult dogs that came to KHS as a result of a Provincial Animal Welfare investigation, will now get to relax at the shelter before returning to care in his foster home.

The humane society says the pup's health is sound and his socialization is progressing. They say he may be available for adoption in the near future.