A Yellowknife dog owner is thanking the city for what he calls a fairy tale ending to finding his lost friend.
The story of Finnie, a four-year-old Greek Pyrenees mix, took over social media with people all over the area on the lookout for the beloved family pet.
That story had a happy ending as Finnie was found on Monday morning and reunited with her family.
Justin Rivera told SA国际影视传媒 a short time after Finnie was found that she went missing about a week ago when he let her out before bed.
"It was about 9:30 p.m. and then I went to check on my son," Rivera recalled. "I went back to check on the dog and she was gone from the backyard."
Rivera said he and his family had just moved into a new house in Old Town and were still in the process of building a proper fence.
"I'm guessing the new backyard has a lot more foxes and whatnot frequenting it. So, I think she took off after one of those and she probably realized she didn't know where she was," Rivera said about Finnie.
That night, Rivera said he stayed up until 4:00 a.m. looking for her. Signs went up across the city offering a reward for FinnieSA国际影视传媒檚 return.
Without Finnie, Rivera said both he and his wife, Jill, were thinking of selling the house since it no longer felt like home. But despite the hardship, Rivera said the whole community pulled together to find her.
"My family's been here for 50 years and I can see why because this place is definitely home," said Rivera. "Yellowknife, as a whole, when times like this happen, they all definitely pull together and they made it happen for us. It was community members that found her (and) that brought her back to us."
Rivera's wife had been posting updates on social media with residents also sharing the information. There was even a sizable group of volunteers that made up the search party known as Find Finnie. Several people had apparently notified the family that they had seen Finnie over the past few days, but the description didn't match what had been put out there.
So when Rivera got a call about someone having found Finnie on Monday, he said he was cautiously optimistic. When the two reunited, Rivera said Finnie gave her a nuzzle right into his neck.
"I haven't gotten one from her like that in a long time," he said. "It was a bit of a fairy-tale ending."
As soon as Finnie was back in his arms, Rivera described the feeling as having a weight off his chest.
"I felt this when both my kids were born," he laughed. "She's definitely part of the family."
Rivera said the family plans on renting out a kitchen at Fred Henne Park to host a 'thank you' barbecue for everyone that helped.
Details on that are to be announced, he added.
