As told by David Woods, Lost Dogs of Wisconsin caseworker for Marathon County

Prince the pug, lost from Wausau, Marathon County in November and reported as deceased is actually alive and was reunited with his owners yesterday.  Last week, the Fire Department could not safely reach what owners thought was his deceased body under a bridge.  The owners felt it was Prince and changed his status in our system to In Memoriam so we closed the case and posted his Forever in Our Hearts flyer.

BUT, we have learned that unless a body is recovered, an owner should never assume their dog is deceased.  Lost dogs continually prove to be resilient and resourceful and can survive even the harshest conditions.

We received several sightings of a small dog running the area. It turns out that Prince was being fed for the past few days by a Good Samaritan who when shown Prince’s photo confirmed that it was Prince.   Unfortunately he was hit by a car shortly after he went missing and will need an eye removed but is otherwise in stable condition.

Here is a message received from the owner:

“Prince is reunited with best friend and family!  He is in pretty rough shape but is ALIVE and happy to be in her arms none the less!  A huge thank you to Dennis for making his home a place he felt safe to come to every night and also thank you for everyone’s effort in searching for him!  Prince’s injuries are non life threatening at this time however he will still need his eye removed.  He is currently at home getting comfortable with his best friend at his side!  We are continuing pain management until his surgery.  Until then, prayers are still appreciated! Thank you for all of your kind words.  “

Never Give Up! Unless you have definite confirmation that your dog is deceased, continue to look for them.  Lost dogs have been recovered months and years after they have gone missing.  Welcome home, Prince!