Valerie the dachshund is found safe and well after 529 days on the run on South Australian island

After 529 days on the run, Australia’s favourite fugitive has been caught at last.

Valerie the miniature dachshund, who went missing on Kangaroo Island way back in 2023, has been rescued by conservationists.

“Kangala Wildlife Rescue is overjoyed to announce the successful rescue of Valerie,” the group said on TikTok on Friday night.

“After weeks of tireless efforts … by volunteers and partner organisations Valerie has been safely rescued and is fit and well.

“We are absolutely thrilled and deeply relieved that Valerie is finally safe and able to begin her transition back to her loving parents.”

People have been trying to find Valerie since she went missing in November 2023, when her owners, New South Wales couple Georgia Gardner and Josh Fishlock, were holidaying at Stokes Bay – home to one of Australia’s best beaches but also farmland and dense scrub.

Valerie escaped from her pen at their campsite at Stokes Bay before running into the scrub. The pair searched for her with the help of locals but to no avail.

Then, in March, reports began coming in that Valerie had been spotted. One picture appears to show the dog’s oversized ears poking above some paddock stubble.

Kangala Wildlife Rescue volunteers used surveillance, traps and lures to try to find Valerie. They captured a video of her, but she remained at large.

Stokes Bay locals like to point out their island is six times bigger than Singapore. It’s also much wilder – a place where a couple can walk alone on a pristine beach, whales visit, trees grow bent over from the wind, and bushfires occasionally raze the land. Much of it remains untamed, remote.

So the residents are somewhat bemused at the way Valerie’s story has spread around the world. The New York Times reported on the elusive dog, which is still apparently wearing her pink collar. In the UK, the Times wrote of her dodging snakes and eagles, and the Independent commented on her “remarkable resilience”.

“Kangaroo Island is known for many things … dogs that survive for 500 days is not what you expect,” resident and animal lover Louise Custance said in April.

“I think people just want to have a good news story; otherwise, everything’s so sad. The last global headline that Kangaroo Island made was the [2020] fires.”

Now, after an estimated 1,000 hours of volunteer effort and more than 5,000km travelled around the island searching for her, she was snared in a search operation using cameras and prepared traps.

“There were many challenging moments over the past month,” the group said, “and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who played a part in bringing Valerie home.”