Bushfire dogs reunited

By Kath Gannaway
THERE’S raw emotion in Dale Schwab’s eyes as he cradles Rosie’s sad face in his hands.
“I’m so sorry I had to leave you,” he whispers. “I’m sorry.”
The 34-year-old Woori Yallock man was on a motorbike weekend in the bush near Marysville on Saturday 7 February, when the firestorm went through.
The decision to leave Rosie, a six-month-old Staffie, and Knackers, a Rhodesian Ridgeback pup, as the fire roared towards the camp he and 17-year-old Trent Fry had set up the night before, was the hardest he’s ever had to make.
As he and his partner, Trent’s mother Kim Fry, were reunited with Rosie and Knackers on Wednesday at the Yea Veterinary Hospital, they told of how a boys’ weekend away turned into a terrifying escape from the fire, of their desperate attempt to go back for the dogs, and of a week of heartache, not knowing, but fearing the worst.
Police who found the dogs, and camping equipment, near Stricklands Spur Track last Sunday week were concerned about the fate of the owners and in a media release called for information which could help determine whether they were missing or accounted for.
Kim contacted the Mail on Wednesday, certain that the “pit-bull puppies” were Rosie and Knackers. Though the original description was off the mark, a distinctive kink in Rosie’s tail provided positive ID for the RSPCA vets at Yea and paved the way for an emotional reunion.
Kim says she still can’t believe they survived eight days without food.
“The policewoman who found them said they were in what she thinks was a platypus hole in the bank of a creek, so they had water, but it seems like a miracle.”
The weekend is one the Schwab/Fry clan won’t forget easily.
Kim had dropped Dale and Trent off at their camp on Friday night and returned the next morning with supplies.
“By the time I had got back to Woori I was getting calls from people telling me to get back up and get them out,” Kim told the Mail.
As she raced towards Marysville, Dale and Trent were grappling with how they were going to get out of what had become a life-threatening, logistical nightmare.
With Trent’s bike out of action, they had no choice but to go without the dogs.
Trent said the first they knew of the fires was when he got text messages late in the day.
“All of a sudden it went really windy, dark, and red and that’s when we knew we had to get out,” he said.
“We tried to put the puppies in a bag but couldn’t manage it, and with the fire coming in pretty fast we had to make that choice,” he said.
Dale said he was never more happy to see Kim than when they rounded a corner and saw her car coming towards them.
The obstacles, however, continued to mount.
Kim had a flat tyre which Dale said took what seemed like an eternity to change.
“We headed back up to try to get the dogs, but there was no way we could get through,” he said.
Trent said the fire was terrifying. “When we went to go back in to where we were camping the whole bush was on fire. I was terrified … numb, I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. We had to turn back.”
Although they tried several times to get back up to look for the puppies, with the roads blocked and the area declared a crime scene, Dale and Kim’s only course was to let all the relevant organisations know their puppies were out there.
Though Rosie and Knackers are still nursing some wounds, Dale said it was great to have them home where they belonged.
“I did the best I could – I got us both out of there, but leaving them behind was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”