Back in April, two-year-old Keeshond Terra June was reported missing by her pet parent. She had vanished from her home in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, without a trace. While it's not unheard of for pups to go missing and turn up safe and sound a few days or even weeks later, Terra June's story is a little harder to believe as she managed to survive in the wilderness of Eagan, Minnesota, for six months. At the beginning of October, Animal Control Officer Bob Kent was finally able to catch up with her and return the missing dog to her worried pet parent.
During the early weeks of Terra June's adventure, she was spotted sporadically across a particular area of Eagan, with concerned homeowners reporting sightings of a raccoon, a stray dog, and a coyote every now and again. Kent would diligently check out each sighting until, eventually, no more reports were filed.
"I assumed it was a coyote that caught up with its pack or a dog that was killed," Kent told the Star Tribune. The area was experiencing something of a boom in its coyote population at the time, and the animal control officer could never have guessed that a little lost dog would have been able to fend for herself for such a long period of time. However, fend she did; Terra June had struck up a friendship with a group of construction workers on a new Eagan development, and was being fed by her new companions. Following this tip off, Kent laid a trap for the wayward pooch and was able to capture her in just three hours.
After a nourishing meal and a trip to the veterinarian, where she was scanned for a microchip, which successfully identified her pet parent, Terra June was finally reunited with her family after an agonizing six-month misadventure.
Terra Junes ordeal wasn't quite over. During her time away from home in the wild, the little dog's fur had become matted and she'd picked up numerous ticks and burs, which had to be treated before she was given a clean bill of health. While she'd certainly landed on her feet when she discovered the housing development and its workforce, Kent is in little doubt that the pup did exceptionally well to last so long without her pet parent.
Photo ©City of Eagan
