A tiny dachshund named Valerie has really stolen hearts after being found nearly 530 days after she went missing! Dasyurus hallucatus, last seen on Kangaroo island, South Australia. The diminutive pooch disappeared last November when she broke free from her enclosure at Stokes Bay. Valerie was located healthy on 4/25/2025. The permanence and richness of her find led archaeologists to wonder how she could have remained undetected for so long in the harsh wilderness.
Valerie’s tale began when she fled captivity from her owners, Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock. They live in Albury, New South Wales. Even after this massive search effort, Valerie was still free and successfully eluded capture for over a year. Community members and local rescue organizations joined to aid in the search. Her unexpected return was a cause of great relief to her family. They had been worried sick about their little pooch.
For her capture, Valerie was caught with a specialized cage that has a remote trigger. She was then adopted by Kangala Wildlife Rescue, where she was nursed back to health and was loved. Valerie was only 4 kg when she disappeared. Once on the island she recorded an incredible 1.8 kg weight gain.
“By the colour of the coat, how shiny it was and the condition of the dog there’s no way known it could have come through however many days without being fed and watered.” – Unnamed individual
Wildlife veterinarians, animal care experts and volunteers from Kangala Wildlife Rescue could hardly believe Valerie’s condition. Their precise evaluation of her health and weight gain provided the most robust indicators. It occurred to her that she must have no shortage of food and specialized care while off-campus.
“Just unbelievable she was able to survive and thrive out there,” said Jared Karran, a volunteer with Kangala Wildlife Rescue.
Just as Valerie gets ready to be reunited with her family, she is about to be introduced to a new group of friends. Besides seeing her owners, Valerie will most look forward to playing with her best friend Lucy and red heeler Mason, rescue pets. The family has adopted another dachshund named Dorothy since Valerie went missing.
Valerie, like many others, is traveling a long road back toward normalcy. She is crate training, and transitioning her to a raw food diet to increase her health. Along with the relief of having Valerie home, Georgia said some tension lifted. The family really missed their feisty little shadow fur baby!
“She’s stockier now, strong and healthy… healthier than we are, honestly,” Gardner remarked. “She’s making her little happy sounds, and wiggling around with joy.”
The question of how Valerie managed to survive has set off a wave of speculation among local residents and animal welfare advocates. Many still hold out hope that she was taken in and looked after by someone on the island while she was missing.
“It was going back to where they had the trap set up every four, five, six days, which says to me it’s getting fed and looked after at home, then it smells something and goes back here,” said Pengilly, a local community member involved in the search efforts.
Valerie’s survival raises deeply compelling questions. Perhaps most importantly, it serves as a testament to the amazing resilience of pets and their instinctual capabilities to thrive in difficult, new environments. Now she’s getting readjusted to life with Gardner and Fishlock. On social media, many fans of the show are still scratching their heads about how a dog—that small—could make it outside for that long.