Louise Stigsdotter and her partner celebrated Easter at Kronocamping in Lidköping. On Easter Eve there was a party at the campsite. Mållis, who is a Mexican hairless dog, was frightened by Easter firecrackers and managed to break out of the locked mobile home and ran away.
– It was dark and partying at the campsite, but everyone helped to search. After a while we learned that the dog had been seen five kilometers from the campsite. We went there, and there the tracks ended, says Louise Stigsdotter.
Half a meter of snow
She is worried that Mållis might not have made it.
– Two days after Easter Eve, Lidköping received nearly half a meter of snow, not optimal for a Mexican naked dog. He is not made for the Swedish climate.
– We have searched for him in every possible way, a lot of car scouting. A dog quickly becomes feral. He is guaranteed to be very shy these days. His life revolves around finding food and protecting himself from all dangers, including humans. Therefore, skull walking does not work.
One Facebook group has been created where people can report observations about Mållis.
– There are a lot of people who helped. The whole of Lidköping has been fantastic. The Swedish Navy, the Swedish Armed Forces, several companies and Missing Dog have helped on a voluntary basis, says Louise.
Seen in the village of Tranum
The search for Mållis continued without results. Almost four weeks later, they received several observations from Tranum, a village south of Lidköping. Then the silent observations. Now he has been gone for eight weeks. But then something happened.
– This morning they called from the same small village. A man who lives on one of the farms told us that his daughter was close to running over Mållis. So she has seen him at quite a close distance. Most others have seen him a hundred yards away.
Louise is pretty sure that it is Mållis who has been caught.
– They describe him as a large naked dog, extremely thin, dark, tanned because he lived outside. It can’t be anyone else, there are no other stray dogs in the area, we are keeping up to date on that.
“A real fighter”
Now she hopes that it really is Mållis who was seen in the village of Tranum.
– I have no children of my own, so he has been a bit of my own child. He’s lived by my side for twelve years, so it’s empty without him. He has been involved everywhere, hiking trips, boat trips, the everyday, he has been involved in most things.
– Just the feeling of how he feels, where he sleeps last night, what he eats. You can go crazy with all those thoughts. If he has survived this, he is a real fighter, says Louise Stigsdotter.