Seko, whowas separated from its owner, went missing in the aftermath of the slide
A dog that was separated from his owner during the Chilcotin River landslide on Tuesday has been located.
Seko, who was separated from his owner and went missing in the aftermath of the slide, was reunited with his family Friday afternoon (Aug. 2) in Williams Lake.
A rescue himself, Seko is almost three-years-old and lives with a couple in the B.C. Interior.
His owner, Vanessa, told Black Press Media she received a call from Debbie Ilnicki from Ilnicki Ranch where the slide is located that Seko had turned up at the ranch Friday morning.
She called Jeremy Vogt, who she and her husband know in Williams Lake, and asked if he would mind going to pick Seko up from the Ilnickis.
Vogt was about to leave Williams Lake when he heard from the Vanessa that Seko had left the ranch, run up the 10-m length of the ranch roadand some youth had picked him up on Highway 20.
They had called Vanessa because her number was on Seko's dog tag.
"That means that dog ran that whole ranch road all the way to the highway, which is incredible to me," Vogt said.
Vogt met the youth at A&W in Williams Lake, brought Seko to his home and waited for Vanessa to arrive.
When Black Press Media met Seko, he had enjoyed a few treats and was relaxing in the shade.
As soon as Vanessa showed up, she and Seko had a tender exchange. Within a few minutes, Seko was sitting in the back of her vehicle waiting for the trek home.
"The Ilnickis are such good people, why didn't you just stay there?" Vanessa asked Seko at one point.
Vanessa later told Black Press Media before she left Williams Lake to go home she tookSeko to the vet.
"A big shout out for the Williams Lake Williams Lake Veterinary Hospital who examined him no charge and without an appointment. He is all good!"
Diane Ilnicki told Black Press Friday evening she was riding a side-by-sideon the ranch yard coming up from checking the water levels at the slide and Seko came running toward her.
"I stopped and he stopped and we looked at each other then he took off into the tall grass," she said.
While the encounter was only about 20 seconds, she noticed the doghad a green coloured dog tag and thought itcould be Seko,
She went into the house and checked the a post on social media, thought Seko looked like the dog in the photographs and called Vanessa at 10:50 a.m.
Seko disappeared from her sight so she told the people working in the ranch shop to keep an eye out for him.
She received a voice mail from Vanessa indicating Vogt would be coming out to pick up Seko and then a second voice mail from Vanessa letting her know Seko had been found on Highway 20.
"It's great news," Ilnicki said.
It was actually Vogt who had delivered Vanessa's husbandto begin his rafting trip down the Chilcotin River from the bridge at Hanceville on Monday, July 29.
"We were at the Hanceville bridge by 2 p.m. Monday and that's when it rained," Vogt said. "While we were unloading we looked upstream on the Chilcotin and there was this massive thunderstorm. It was a wall of rain coming down the valley. In fact he hid under the bridge until the storm passed."
That was the last Vogt heard of the rafter until a friend told him about the Chilcotin River landslide.
A man was rescued from the slide area on Wednesday morning by the Central Cariboo Search and Rescue. Information officer Debra Bortolussi said two of her members were dispatched to the area after the slide where they rescued the man who was transported out of the area by helicopter and then taken to Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
"The story he stated was that he had set up camp for the night and around midnight or so he heard some rumbling so he got up and started running and told his dog to run too," Bortolussi said.
Vogt texted Dave Dickson, director of emergency support services for the CRD and city of Williams Lake and told him he had dropped off a rafter Monday night.
"Dave told me they did rescue somebody, but he didn't know who he was."
Vogt went to the hospital and found out it was him.
Vanessa said the youth who found Seko on Highway 20 described him as a warrior.
As for her husband, she said he is making a good recovery.
Vogt was originally scheduled to pick up the rafter on Friday, Aug. 2 at the cabin down at Farwell Canyon.
"Our plans sure changed," Vogt said.
A Facebook post from the CRD operations centre, just after 2 p.m. noted how happy the CRD was that Seko was found.
"We are happy to share that the dog, Seko, has been located and is in the process of being reunited with its family. We’ve had our hopes up for this guy and want to share in the relief that what little luck exists with this event has been on the side of those being impacted by this disaster."
More to come.
