Lost Kingston dog returns to Humane Society

Finding the right home for a foster animal can be pretty tricky. Sometimes, despite the best intentions, the animal just isn’t a fit. That’s what the Executive Director of the Kingston Humane Society said about the husky named Crane who was recently the subject of a group search effort.

Crane, a husky who had been found in a feral state in North Frontenac last year had recently been paired with a foster-to-own family. However one day, the family brought Crane to Grass Creek Park – but Crane fled, setting off a search for the missing dog that lasted well over a week.

“He was gone in a heartbeat,” Kingston Humane Society Executive Director, Gord Hunter said. “And we knew that would happen because he’s a high flight risk.”

The lengthy search for Crane would result in several sightings, in areas all over rural parts of Kingston, both north and south of Highway 401, meaning it’s likely that the husky ventured across six lanes of the often-busy highway.

“Our hearts were in our mouths,” Hunter said. “If he got into traffic, God knows what could happen.”

Hunter added at that point, he and his team worried not only for the safety of Crane, but also of motorists travelling on Highway 401.

Crane continued to elude anyone searching for him, that is until this past Saturday morning when he was spotted in downtown Kingston. Living nearby, Hunter and his wife got out into the streets to see if they could spot him themselves and sure enough, they did, but like each other time, Crane managed to get away again.

However this time it wasn’t very long until he was spotted again – behind the Coca-Cola bottling plant on Railway Street.

Eventually, the dog was brought back into the care of the Kingston Humane Society.

“He probably wasn’t too far from his system having to shut down,” Hunter said.

He’s now back in good spirits under the care of KHS staff, but won’t be returning to the foster family who had previously kept him. Hunter said that sometimes these types of dogs have a harder time being domesticated and that they’re looking into more appropriate accommodations for Crane, such as a husky retreat.