I was going to post this yesterday, but with 4 active operations underway yesterday from Sooke to the Alberni Valley, there just wasn't time. I will look back on 2014 in a moment,

I would first like to recap the first 2 days of 2015, which have been active indeed!

We found and caught Maggie early on January 1st. Maggie is a Chihuahua who had only been in Port Alberni for less than a day when she bolted on December 22nd. This little 5 pound dog did not know the area, and being from California was certainly not used to the cold weather we'd been having! Once we had a confirmed sighting, an AARF volunteer arrived and was able to spot her from a block away. Once Maggie saw that the searcher had seen her and even though eye contact was not made, she disappeared. 2 years on the streets of California taught her many survival skills. We searched the yard she ran in to and noticed she had curled up on a towel beside the unaware homeowner's hot tub. It never amazes us how resourceful the little ones can be! We set up a feeding station where she had been sleeping and when it was checked in the morning, there she was inside! An AARF volunteer was able to slowly approach the crate and closed the door and Maggie was safe! Her owner was contacted, and AARF rushed her to Central Island Emergency Veterinary Hospital in Nanaimo, where she received excellent care, fluids and was checked for injuries! She was very underweight, frightened and dehydrated but is expected to recover. This was a VERY Happy ending! But!! The day was not done yet!

We received a found report from Sooke, that was very quickly resolved when AARF volunteer Laura contacted family and friends and was able to locate a owner for the dogs. Through quick action and communication, the volunteer and the finder, who had submitted a found report on AARF were able to re-unite Chole and Shadow with their owners.

We heard of a lost report in Parksville, and were able to contact the owner, who was visiting from out of town. An AARF volunteer headed out to assist with search efforts for Maya. We were able to determine she had been found by a local teen the day before, and spent the night at their house (where she had a great sleep in a human bed), and was returned to the relieved owner.

We received a lost report in Port Alberni for Tia on January 1st. Searching the local postings for the Alberni Valley showed that someone had found a dog with exactly the same description, so we were able connect owner and finder, and a happy reunion was made!

We also received a found report of Golden Retriever type dog in the Beaver Creek area of the Alberni Valley. The finder was unable to keep the dog overnight until the vets could be contacted to trace the tattoo, so we were able to arrange an overnight stay for Camry (we found her name out after dropping her off) in Beaver Creek. As the folks she was overnighting with had to leave early in the morning, we picked her up from there, and called the vet when they opened. The vet traced the Tattoo, called the owner, and gave them the contact information. We were able to drop Camry off this afternoon to a grateful owner.

On early Thursday morning, we received word of a lost dog in Cowichan Lake. Sweetpea had been missing since the 29th of December, when she bolted. She was on a retractable leash, but the person holding the leash was unable to hold on to it when Sweetpea reached the end of the tether. AARF search volunteers Sue, Deb and Judy drove all the way from Victoria to Lake Cowichan on Thursday afternoon, and provided sandwich boards, owner support, and lead an active search. Sweetpea was not found on that day, despite their extensive efforts. The same search team set out today to look for Sweetpea, and she was found!! She was injured, dehydrated, in the woods, and needed to be carried out. The Lake Cowichan emergency services response was fantastic and showed true community spirit! With assistance from local fire, ambulance, police and SAR resources, Sweetpea was treated at the scene and carried out of the woods on a rope rescue stretcher to her owner's car. Sweetpea was then rushed to a Duncan vet, and is currently undergoing assessment.

That's just the first two DAYS of 2015! It promises to be an exciting year! Now, we look back on 2014, which has been our formative year.

We held our first organizational meeting for AARF in late May, where we established the framework of the organization. We determined our objectives, and laid out a constitutional document.
In mid-June, we held a meeting at the Harold Bishop Hall of the Sproat Lake Fire Department, where we completed all of the legal documentation required to form a registered society. At that meeting we signed the document of first directors, and finalized our constitution and bylaws. On July 14th, 2014, AARF was officially and legally incorporated as a non-profit society.

As the needs of AARF  www.aarf.ca and owners/finders evolved we were working on our systems to make the posting of lost/found pets more streamlined. Also, to reduce the time it takes to go from an owner filling out a form, to the post being published to Facebook and Twitter. 5 minutes from form filling to Facebook was the goal, and we cycled through a number of different technologies before we have the one we use today which is vastly better than our original goal of 5 minutes. Our system will also instantly E-mail local resources (Vets, Shelters, Bylaw, BC SPCA and other pet resources such as groomers) with the details and the picture the owner submitted. This approach has been tremendously successful and has resulted in a number of very quick reunions.

Continuing on the geeky side, we have also implemented automatic poster generation, text alerts, and a text messaging platform for our search teams to allow everyone to keep in touch simultaneously. Immediate communication is key to a successful search as is continuing to network with all the great organizations we work alongside. We look forward to building more tools for both our volunteers and owners in 2015 and more bridges with other great organizations while strengthening our existing relationships.

We started receiving lost/found postings on May 29th, and from then until December 31st, we have received 652 postings. 404 lost, and 248 found. Our page went from 6 likes on May 29th, to over 1800 by the end of the year. Our website has seen over 40,000 visits, and things show no sign of slowing down.

We look forward to 2015, and continued improvements in everything we do. We will continue to work with owners and support them, and we will continue to build on one of our principle goals, education.

Slide on!!
Richard for AARF.
www.aarf.ca
https://www.facebook.com/aarf.ca