Look, we all know there’s a lot of truly heinous stuff going on in the world right now but, for just a few minutes, why not put those depressing thoughts to one side and focus on this story of an adorable miniature dachshund surviving against the odds?
Meet Valerie, the beloved “absolute little princess” of Australian couple Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock. In Nov. 2023 they went camping on Kangaroo Island in South Australia when disaster struck. Valerie was being kept inside a pen, but broke free and ran into the scrub. A frantic weeklong search with the help of locals ensued, but Valerie was declared officially MIA.
And, as a tiny dog weighing less than 4kg, Valerie’s chances didn’t look great. Like most of Australia, Kangaroo Island is populated by deadly fauna and fauna but even if it weren’t, Valerie doesn’t sound like a survival expert, as she “would never leave [the] side” of her owner” and was not an “outside dog”.
However, it seems this miniature dachshund is made of sterner stuff than everyone assumed, because she’s recently been spotted alive and well. Rumors that she’d survived reached her owners a year ago, with Kangala Wildlife Rescue reporting on their Facebook page that: “Based on first-hand accounts and video evidence, we now know that Valerie is alive”.
Unfortunately – but perhaps the reason she’s still alive – catching her and returning her to her owners hasn’t proved easy. “She runs at the first sign of humans or vehicles, and despite the best efforts of dedicated Island locals, Valerie has been impossible to catch.”
Gardner responded with jubilation that Valerie is alive: “It’s been so crazy. Even with the really recent sightings, we were both just like, ‘No, don’t get your hopes up. But, especially with the photograph that we got sent and with the confidence in Kangala Wildlife Rescue, now we’re just starting to edge to more like, ‘OK, how are we going to get to the island if we have to pick her up?’”
And on their initial suspicions on her survival: “We thought, instead of her surviving out in the wild, maybe someone had kind of adopted her or she was hanging out with some other dogs and getting their food because she was an absolute little princess. .. She never left my side. She was not a very outside, rough-and-tough dog. To think that she even went one night outside in the rain, oh my gosh. To think that she’s gone a year and a half is incredible.”
Local wildlife experts can’t believe it either, with Kangala Wildlife Rescue director, Jared Karran, telling the Adelaide Advertiser he was “amazed” that Valerie had survived for so long.
If (hopefully when!) Valerie is reunited with her loving family we fully expect to see her adventure being adapted into an animated movie. What heart wouldn’t melt at the story of a sheltered indoor dog having to suddenly contend with life alone in the bush, learning how to survive and thrive and, I dunno, making a new koala best friend voiced by Seth Rogen along the way.
The script writes itself! Now, let’s get this cute lil’ grizzled survivor back home where she belongs.
Published: Mar 26, 2025 07:37 am