REGINA - A family from Ont. was heartbroken after their dog, Bear, managed to escape their sight while staying in Regina for the night.
After looking for hours, the family had no choice but to leave Regina to attend business in Edmonton.
Hoping someone would come across Bear, one of the family members decided to post about their missing dog on Facebook, which caught the attention of Regina resident Matthew Wesley.
"I woke up Sunday morning, and we were just having breakfast with my kids, and I was just scrolling through Facebook like normally, and I saw this post that was previously made the night before of a German shepherd husky running around at large," said Wesley.
Wesley noted how it was really cold outside overnight, and the dog was out there for hours.
So, he said to his kids, "Do you want to go on an adventure and try to get this dog and my kids said yes."
Wesley decided to head to the area Bear was last seen in. He mentioned it was about 12 hours since the post had been put up.
He decided to ask a few people walking around in the area if they had seen a German shepherd husky. While the first two people said they hadn’t, the third person Wesley asked told him he did see a dog matching the description that was running around before.
Hearing that, Wesley decided to check out the area, where he found Bear running between a church and a house.
Even though Wesley had found the dog, the tough part was managing to get a hold of it. After trying to catch it multiple times, the chase for Bear ended up going to Victoria Square Mall.
There, two individuals had noticed Wesley chasing the dog. So, they decided to help out and corner the dog so Wesley could bring it into his vehicle. Wesley was thankful for the two individuals, admitting the chase would have taken a lot longer without their help.
Once Wesley had Bear, he noticed how cold he was, shuttering his eyes. Typically, a lot of animals are scared when someone new approaches them or takes them in, he said.
Despite this, Wesley said it only took Bear 20 minutes to warm up to him. He also noticed how clean and playful Bear was, which showed his family did take good care of him. Wesley noted animals typically run away because they are troubled or mistreated by their owners.
Wesley informed one of the family members he had found their dog, and they called him a "godsend."
To Wesley, he doesn’t see himself as a hero like many others call him, but rather a normal person who loves animals and wants to keep them safe.
Because Bear's owners were still in Edmonton, they asked if Wesley would be willing to take care of Bear for a few days before they came back to Regina. Wesley agreed and started taking care of Bear.
Wesley pointed out that some people on Facebook were upset with the family for leaving Bear behind. Wesley called the reactions "really unfair."
He added, "the people [who own the dog] are really nice, and they're devastated, but they have a role elsewhere, right. [I mean,] it's not like they just [decided to] brush their hands clean of this dog like [the owner] was probably crying when she left the province down the road right, but they [and] everybody else has a life and something to do."
Wesley noted even if the family decided to chase down the dog, they’re not familiar with the city and have no connections, so it would make it more difficult for them.
Since Wesley started taking care of Bear, he started getting attached to the dog quickly, which Wesley said was unusual for him. Bear was getting along with the other animals Wesley owned and his kids as well.
During the second night Bear was at Wesley’s residence, the dog decided to sleep under his daughter’s bed. Part of him admitted he wanted to keep Bear, but he knew how important he was to the family and the community they lived in.
Bear’s owners, who are from Dryden, Ont., a northwestern community in the province, told Wesley, "he's like the door greeter there [at the local RONA], and they're [in a] small town [of over 7,000 people], and everybody knows this dog so it's like he is a respected animal and a loved animal [in the community.]"
When the family returned to Regina and came to Wesley’s residence, Bear had no clue what was going on.
Wesley wanted to make sure Bear was comfortable and not scared of the family. When Bear saw his owners, Wesley said he "was so happy to see them, like he was jumping up and down and [his] tail was just wagging so hard like he [was excited] that his family was back."
He added, seeing "the dog dancing on the linoleum [as] his feet [were] sliding to try to get to his owner was ridiculous, man, like that right there [that] is payment enough [for me to see that moment.]"
When asked if he would call this a fairy tale story, Wesley responded with, "yeah."
Because Wesley normally drops off animals that he finds out in the open at the humane society. He never gets to see what happens to them next, whether they reconnect with their owners or not.
Wesley is hoping if the family travels through Regina again, that they "either leave [Bear] here for the weekend or just stop by for a coffee to see the dog again because my 7-year-old twins just love him."
