Mila the Beagle had a harder life than most of our pets. Mila spent most of her life at Envigo dog breeding facility in Virginia. The facility closed last year following a federal investigation. After the closure, 3,776 beagles were left with uncertain futures. One of these dogs was Mila. Thankfully for her, she was adopted by Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds, a longtime Beagle lover. Then, shortly after adjusting to her new home (her first time touching grass or having a dog bed) she disappeared. Thankfully, Mila has been returned home to her new family, much to their relief.
Beagle goes missing at campaign photo shoot
On April 4th, Deeds was in Charlottesville for a photo shoot for campaign materials. Mila was planned to be a part 0f the photo shoot. For the first part of the evening she was outside, on a leash, under the care of a campaign intern. Then, she bolted. Deeds hypothesizes that the unfamiliar intern confused and scared Mila, leading to her stint as a runaway.
“I was foolish to leave her with someone she didn’t know in a neighborhood she didn’t know,” Deeds said to Cardinal News. “Instead of making money calls, I was in the woods looking for that dog.”
Lost Beagle reunited with politician and family
After several weeks of frantic efforts to find Mila that involved putting up signage, trail cams, and reaching out to a dog expert, the lost Beagle was finally located. Mila was found in a different Charlottesville neighborhood on April 17, where she was cornered on a porch until Deeds could collect her.
“I called her name – and she came right to me,” he said. “I knew she was just scared and confused and panicked. In the end, she was just worn out. She walked up to me and I held her as long as I could — until I started picking the ticks off her.”
We’re thankful that this story has a happy ending, both for Mila and the rest of the Deeds family. You can bolster your chances of finding your own pet if they become lost by keeping a current picture (to show others their description). Also, keep current identification on your dog’s collar. And always microchip your pet. Check out our lost dog guide for additional tips on recovering a runaway canine.
