On November 30th, 2020, her owner, Sharon, took her for a walk up a local trail that ran beside Mosquito creek in North Vancouver. They were accompanied by a friend and her dog. It was a popular route, but on that sunny day there were no other people in sight. Clover was excited to be with her canine buddy. The two of them ran ahead of the women, barking their way up the hill, then turned left to scurry down the bank to the creek. Sharon called Clover to return, and when she didn’t, panic set in. It was unlike Clover not to return immediately. The two of them quickly made their way to the creek.

Only one dog was there, barking at the water. Clover was nowhere in sight.

It was clear that something had happened. Alarmed, she called 911 then called her husband who went to the fire department for help. The fire station happened to be right beside the trail head, so they arrived at the location within minutes. They immediately searched the area and the surrounding water, then went further down the creek to scout out the location beyond the bridge. If Clover had fallen into the water, the dam would have caught her, but she was nowhere to be found.

Friends, neighbours and locals to the area began searching the trails on either side of the creek, as well as the creek banks and the creek itself. A local pet detective was called in to search the area with a bloodhound and infrared camera. Nothing was found. The search was expanded to include areas north and south of the trail. A possible sighting at a local marina gave everyone a brief moment of hope, but it wasn’t Clover.

Several days later there was a possible indication that she was north of the creek because somebody heard barking in the forest at an unusual hour. The focus shifted to the new location. The odds that it was Clover were starting to seem slim after several days went by with no leads. 

There were so many questions and possibilities. Some were valid, while others seemed far fetched. Had she been stolen? If something had spooked her it was possible that she could have run north along the bank and then onto the trail. A frightened dog can run a long way! Somebody could have found her and decided to keep her, or even sell her. Was she caught by a branch somewhere in the forest? She had been wearing a harness and a collar, so either could have been snagged by the underbrush. Was she taken by a coyote? The bloodhounds lost her scent at the location near the creek where she disappeared. It seemed unlikely that a coyote could have lifted her off the ground. What about a cougar? Mosquito Creek is known to have cougars in the area.

Weeks went by with hope fading that she would be found. Then one evening Sharon received news of another sighting — a dog matching her description just south of where she lived. There was nobody with the dog, and the person who spotted her was unable to stop the car to take a photo before the dog disappeared. Was she trying to find her way home? Days went by, and hope faded quickly after no further sightings were made. The elation and alternating despair were taking a tole on Clover’s owners.

January 10th, a little over a month after Clover’s disappearance, a man was wading in the creek, just below the waterfall. He noticed something protruding from the water that didn’t seem right. Upon closer inspection he realized it was a dog’s leg. It was Clover. He knew about Clover’s disappearance and notified Sharon immediately. Not able to bring herself to see Clover in that state, she sent a friend to go to the site to confirm that it was her. Her friend notified the fire department who immediately went to the site to extract her body from behind the falls. They were kind enough to take her body directly to a crematorium so Sharon wouldn’t have to go through the agony of doing it herself. Clover was only meters away from the edge of the creek where she’d gone missing.

She must have slipped in the shallow water and gone over the 4 foot waterfall. The suction created by the waterfall had drawn Clover in behind the water, trapping her, and subsequently drowning her. Despite the best efforts of the fire department, professional pet searchers, volunteers, and Clover’s family, it took someone who wasn’t looking for her at all to find her.

Dogs play in the creek and hike along this trail all the time without incident. This was a freak accident, but it made me aware of the power of a waterfall — even a small one. Last year, several dogs were swept downstream in the creeks of North Vancouver. Two of them drowned. Clover’s story illustrates that it’s easy to dismiss the element of danger in a shallow creek.

Written with the permission of Sharon Gradin