How a lost dog from the Saskatchewan countryside ended up in downtown Toronto

A dog from the Saskatchewan countryside that had been missing since September has turned up in an unlikely place: downtown Toronto.

Konrad Fredrickson told CTV News Toronto that he initially assumed that his dog, a three-year old mixed Shepard crossbreed named Bear, may have been killed by coyotes after disappearing from his backyard while he was at a golf tournament in the fall.

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He said that he was “pretty shocked” when his phone rang recently and it was a veterinarian calling to notify him that they’d found the dog.

“I assumed coyotes got him because a Facebook post that we put up about him didn’t really garner no responses,” he said in an interview with CTV News Toronto.

The dog was brought into the Islington Village Animal Hospital last week for a check-up. According to the clinic’s manager, Andria Macri, the dog’s microchip was how they were able to connect with Fredrickson.

“When the microchip was found, [the veterinarian] followed the proper channels to help reunite [Bear] with his owner,” a statement from Macri reads. “This is a reminder of how important it is to have your pet microchipped and to be sure your contact information is up to date with the microchip company.”

Fredrickson said that he’s been in touch with the person who has his dog and is planning to reunite with Bear sometime soon.

He said that as it turned out the Toronto resident was in Stoughton, Saskatchewan for work when the dog walked onto a job site a couple of miles away from Fredrickson’s yard.

“He just assumed that the dog was a stray,” said Fredrickson. “And he didn’t want to take him to a shelter because [Bear] didn’t need to get put down.”

The dog was since brought back to Toronto with the worker, and is now in Etobicoke with the man’s mother, Fredrickson said.

Since receiving the call, a friend of Fredrickson’s has set up a GoFundMe to help raise money to get Bear the dog home.

“It’s been emotional,” Tasha Bigras, Fredrickson’s friend, said to CTV News about the incident.