Being involved in a caravan rollover on the Bruce Highway is a traumatic enough event on its own but, for Emma and Caz Price, losing their beloved pet dog in the aftermath of the carnage has made the ordeal that much worse.
The pair were being overtaken by a truck near St Lawrence north of Rockhampton late last week when their caravan jack-knifed and crashed off the road. The car slammed into a tree and the caravan flipped on its roof.
They know they were exceptionally lucky to escape without serious injury and they will be forever grateful to the passers-by and emergency services personnel who came to their aid. However, their insistence that they had to search for their beloved Maltese cross puppy, Otis, before they would received treatment by paramedics certainly raised eyebrows.
While their other dog, a three-year-old Maltese Chihuahua, Milo, is safe and sound, one-year-old Otis panicked and ran into the bush … and he hasn’t been seen since.
“He’s not a pet that’s outside on his own, he’s never home on his own,” Ms Price said. “Otis, is in the middle of nowhere, by himself with no food and no water. He doesn’t know we’ve been looking for him.”
The Mackay Daily Mercury reported that, reluctant to leave without their dog, the pair camped on the side of the Bruce Highway, using the shower tent from the caravan and the seat covers as makeshift bedding. They didn’t want to leave as they knew he would be around the crash site somewhere.
“We stayed in the hope that he would find his way back to us, or we could find him in the fields, we just had to try,” Ms Price told the paper. “We didn’t sleep at all, we took it turns walking around with torches … we walked together, we walked separately – we didn’t sleep.”
While Caz and Emma have now reluctantly left the area without Otis, they are still appealing for travellers to keep an eye out in the hope they can still be re-united.
Otis is a white Maltese cross and was wearing a black harness with reflectors on. The pair have had Otis since he was three weeks old as a rescue puppy. He suffers from a spinal injury which he needs medication for.
However, all is not lost. Just yesterday we reported that Millie the Dachshund was found safe and well 28 days after running into the bush following a fatal rollover accident.
If at all possible, can you return to the accident site and leave something of yours and something Otis would know was his?
I really hope he finds his way back to you in some way.
So, so sad. My dog is my life & if that happened to her I would be devastated. Amazing that you stayed & camped by the roadside to try to find him. You’ve done the best you can do & I so hope the good people out there will find your dear little dog soon.
Please don’t give up. I’m sure he won’t have gone far, he will be scared & lying low. Unless someone has picked hi m up he will still be in the area of the accident.
Was Otis ever found?