Lost dog makes six-week trek home

It took him six weeks after slipping his leash, but Laser the beagle has made a remarkable 80-kilometre journey back to his home in Winnipeg.

Parry LePage and his family were at their cottage in Winnipeg Beach on May 22 when Laser got free from his leash after being spooked by a fireworks display. The cottagers, who live in the Winnipeg suburb of Transcona, searched the beach communities north of the Manitoba capital for their dog, but Laser was not to be found.

The family had adopted the three-year-old beagle from Winnipeg's humane society about a month earlier, and the dog quickly bonded with the LePage family.

On July 5, something remarkable happened: Laser was spotted in a schoolyard just two kilometres from the LePage home and taken to an animal shelter, eventually to be reunited with his adoptive family.

Parry LePage considers Laser's journey exceptional, given he was only with the family a short time before disappearing.

"I blamed myself when he took off — everyone was so upset," LePage said.  "But we formed quite a bond with him over a short period of time."

The LePage family had plastered the Winnipeg Beach area with posters of Laser and every few days they'd receive a phone call from someone who had seen the dog. The sightings eventually got closer to Winnipeg, but no one was able to catch the dog. LePage figures Laser was finding food in the garbage and animal feed on farms between the city and the beach.

"I felt really, really excited. I couldn't believe … he finally came back after six weeks of running," said Adara LePage, 10.

The family members don't know who finally managed to pick Laser up and took him to the animal shelter, but they are grateful.