Ottawa woman reunited with stolen dog found in Wyoming
The last few weeks of Alaina Tripp's life might as well be out of a movie.
What began with heart‐ break last September when her puppy Teddy was stolen from her downtown Ottawa apartment, led to skepticism, then joy last month when she received a series of phone calls and messages telling her the miniature white poo‐ dle had been found.
"I thought it was a joke," she recalled.
Tripp had gotten Teddy the month before he was taken, after her previous dog got sick and had to be put down.
"We were just starting to bond and as soon as we got that solid bond it was taken away," Tripp told CBC. "Every‐ one told me I'd never see him again."
As it turns out, everyone was wrong.
The rescue
Two weeks ago, Don Nethicumara, an officer with the Riverton Police Depart‐ ment (RPD) in Wyoming, pulled over a vehicle for run‐ ning a red light when he no‐ ticed a warrant for the dri‐ ver's arrest.
Ottawa police previously told CBC News the man was wanted in connection with a residential break-and-enter.
According to Nethicumara, the warrant in‐ dicated the man was in pos‐ session of a stolen dog named Teddy, who was in the car at the time.
"He seemed like he was a little hyperactive from being cooped up in that vehicle for that long," Nethicumara said, adding his fur was matted but he was otherwise un‐ harmed.
The RPD tracked down Tripp through the Ottawa and Valley Lost Pet Network a Facebook group run by a group of volunteers, includ‐ ing Lori Ann Borutski.
Borutski helped connect them with Tripp, and work began to bring Teddy home.
The long-awaited re‐ union
Shannon Sanderson, an animal control officer with the RPD took the lead on sorting out the logistics, but really she said "it was a group effort."
"Boss' Bark Boutique did his grooming for his trip back to Canada," Sanderson said, and staff at the Paws for Life animal shelter in Riverton drove Teddy to the airport in Denver for his flight home.
From there, he made a stop in Los Angeles before flying to Toronto Pearson In‐ ternational Airport last Friday.
Tripp had been nervous not knowing how she would make it to Toronto to meet Teddy since she doesn't dri‐ ve, but Borutski told her "Wherever he came in, I would take her."
Once they knew he would be arriving in Toronto, "Off we went," she said.
A happy reunion, a new beginning
"He remembered me in‐ stantly," Tripp said with a smile. "[It was] like one of those moments that feels un‐ real, that you're so happy that your happiness can't be contained."
Hollywood would have you believe that good stories end with a reunion at the air‐ port, but for Tripp, that was just the beginning.
Sitting on a bench at Dun‐ donald Park with Teddy perched calmly next to her just days after their reunion, Tripp said she looks forward to seeing what the future brings for them.
In the four days Teddy's been back, Tripp said he's been adjusting to his new surroundings well and is healthy. He even gets along with her newest dog, Milo.
"It's hard to believe that running a red light led to Ted‐ dy coming home," she re‐ flected.
She's grateful to everyone who made his journey back to her possible.
But after everything, she said, "It'll be nice ... to settle into this week of just me, Teddy and Milo."