CNN
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The dog, which has been missing for over a month and covers about 100 miles, including a mile swim, is finally returned to her foster home after being rescued by the sea.
Amber, 5, was bolted in late April, the day after she arrived in London from Qatar, where she was rescued from the street.
Sam Collins, co-founder of the nonprofit KS Rescue Angels, told CNN on Tuesday that Amber had been transferred to an experienced foster parent in the Southern New Forest region of England on April 25th. The next morning, Amber ran away from his family’s garden.
News of Amber’s escape have been posted on social media and local neighborhoods. Many sightings have been reported, and photos and video clips have been sent to rescue teams to allow Amber to map the movements.
“In the first three weeks, she was probably only travelling about 10 miles from where she went missing, but in a different direction,” Collins said.
The photos and video clips received allow KS Rescue Angels to set up cameras and feeding stations.
“We were doing this for three or four weeks, and we always seemed a step below her delay. Then everything went dark around the four-week mark and we stopped trusting sightings.”
Collins believes this is probably when Amber traveled 30 miles to the coastal town of Pool. Locals had reported sightings of stray dogs, but it was too far for everyone to connect.
Incredibly, Amber was able to swim a mile from the town’s wealthy Sandbank neighborhood to Brownsea Island. Managed by the National Trust, Brownsea is a shelter for wildlife where dogs are not normally welcome.
“She spent three days there, and there was a search party from the National Trust and a woman who lived there who had given her food every night. She was probably surprised by all the people trying to catch her, so she tried to go back to Sandbank to swim, but she got into trouble when she got caught in the current and the tide,” Collins said.
But fortunately, Amber was found on a passing boat.
“She swam in the boat and actually caught her foot around the ladder next to her,” Collins said. “She actually hooked her legs so tightly that they couldn’t pull her up, so one of the youngsters jumped into the water to enter from behind her and shove her into the boat.”
Back on the dry land, news of an astonishing recovery circulated on social media, eventually reaching Collins, who recognized Amber from a nose wound.
Once she was collected, Amber noticed that she had lost weight, but was checked by a vet who was otherwise well. She’s now back with her foster parents.
“She was very tired, but she was very fitting,” Collins said. “She has some bruising she has probably caught herself with barbed wire, thorn bushes, and the rest is in amazing condition.
“She’s kept at least two, and perhaps three leads at any time in the yard. Foster Home is afraid she’ll come out again.”
Collins said the amber likely covers about 100 miles during the extended Walkie.
Amber will remain with the family for at least a few weeks, after which the KS rescue angel hopes she will be re-hold.
“The story exploded and we had a considerable amount of interest from people who wanted to adopt her,” Collins said. “We need to make sure that anyone who goes to gives her a five-star home and understands that she is a flight risk.”
