Diego has been missing since Sept. 21 when the car he was in crashed on Highway 97 near Bailey Road, just south of Vernon.
Image Credit: Contributed
September 23, 2015 - 7:30 PM
VERNON - A Vernon woman is pleading with the public to keep an eye out for her dog after it jumped from a car following a crash and hasn’t been seen since.
Tonya Olson says her boyfriend was driving with their two dogs, Rizza and Diego, on Sept. 21 when the vehicle spun out of control and crashed into the barrier near Bailey Road on Highway 97.
“The window smashed out and the dogs must have jumped out,” Olson says.
Her boyfriend went unconscious and when he woke up, ambulance personnel were on the scene and the dogs were gone. Aside from a collapsed lung, he’s now in stable condition, but like Olson, is devastated about the dogs.
“It was the worst feeling in the world, my dogs are like my children,” Olson says. “It's just very, very heartbreaking.”
The couple got some good news, however, and has since been reunited with one of the dogs, nine-year-old Rizza. As it turns out, a bystander at the accident scene picked him up and took him to the vet, who later got in touch with Olson.
“I’m so grateful for this man. I really appreciate his help,” Olson says. “He said he saw Diego running down the road, so we know he’s alive for now anyways. ”
She’s spent hours at the scene calling for Diego, a five-year-old, 12-pound blonde Chihuahua, and will keep returning to the area until she finds him.
“I’m going to keep looking every single day for him,” she says.
She’s asking drivers and people in the area to be on the lookout for him, and to call his name once in a while if they can.
“Any help, if anyone spots him anywhere, please contact me so I can try to find him,” she says.
Diego is friendly, and will come if his name is called. He’s not wearing a collar but has a tattoo in his ear.
The accident happened around 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, near the turnoff to Predator Ridge on Highway 97. Anyone with information can contact Olson at 250-540-3332.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015