Lost Dog Found

When little Brutus meandered out of the open gates of the home where he was staying, he never expected his day to take such an adventurous turn.

The 12-year-old pug had been staying at the son and daughter-in-law’s house while his parents took their new caravan on holiday.

The gate had accidentally been left open and soon Brutus had wondered on the highway - lost, scared and in a dangerous situation navigating the busy school-run peak-hour traffic on Shute Harbour Road near Mount Julian.

Fortunately, local dog-lover and owner of this newspaper, Bec Douthwaite saw him and immediately stopped her vehicle.

Racing out on foot, she chased the old pup around, but he kept darting away in the opposite direction.

Seeing her plight and watching other drivers pass on by, Whitsunday Transit bus driver Edward Deakes and his co-worker Craig Toole decided to pull the bus over and Craig jumped out to help.

With two people coming from either direction, it was easy to wrangle little Brutus and he was soon safely ensconced in the back of Bec’s vehicle.

Not knowing who he belonged to, the little pug made a trip to the Whitsunday Life office where he was fed treats and water then promptly fell asleep, snoring loudly.

Meanwhile, his parents, who were holidaying in Rollingstone, saw a post saying he was missing on Facebook and started panicking.

Luckily, Brutus had been reported safe to the daughter-in-law, Nicole Camm, who informed them he had been returned home.

“The in-laws said we’re not allowed to look after him ever again!” she said.

“But we are all glad he is home safe – thank you to everyone who stopped.”

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Crissy Bottrell, Bec Douthwaite and Taylor Trewartha with Brutus the pug

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