{"id":630193,"date":"2026-04-25T15:21:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/630193\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T15:21:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T15:21:23","slug":"how-henry-the-dachshund-puppy-survived-three-months-lost-in-perths-southern-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/630193\/","title":{"rendered":"How Henry the dachshund puppy survived three months lost in Perth’s southern suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dachshund puppy has been reunited with its owner after being lost for almost three months in a misadventure spanning multiple Perth suburbs.<\/p>\n

WARNING: This story contains an image of an emaciated animal that may distress some readers.<\/p>\n

Henry, an 11-month-old rescue dog, went missing from his Atwell home on January 29, just three months after he was adopted.<\/p>\n

It’s a tale that has spun comparisons to the saga of Valerie, the dachshund who made international headlines after going missing for 529 days on Kangaroo Island.<\/a><\/p>\n

Loading…<\/p>\n

Owner Steve Velterop, who has several dogs, did not see Henry slip out the door.<\/p>\n

Steve and his partner Leanne Campbell walked around their suburb for hours, hoping the puppy would recognise their scent or voice and come running back.<\/p>\n

“We were calling out for him, which now I know would only scare him away, but I was scared and desperate,” Mr Velterop said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Henry after being reunited with his owner Steve.\u00a0 (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

The couple had been working to slowly socialise Henry, but the dog’s challenging background and wariness of strangers meant it was impossible to approach him.<\/p>\n

They called the local rangers and posted on social media asking for help.<\/p>\n

The first leads came from neighbours who reported footage of Henry running past security cameras or appearing at the local swamp.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Henry went missing in January and his owners feared the worst. (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

But after a few weeks of regular sightings the trail went cold.<\/p>\n

“I searched for weeks, but there was just nothing,” Mr Velterop said.<\/p>\n

“I honestly thought he was gone, that he was finished.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Steve Velterop’s house was not the same without Henry. (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

“I tried to tell myself he was safe \u2026 but deep down I feared the worst.”Race against time<\/p>\n

After months of waiting, Mr Velterop’s neighbour told him she had seen a post about a dachshund on social media.<\/p>\n

“I got pretty excited, so I put up a \u2026 post that night and reports started flooding in,” Mr Velterop said.<\/p>\n

Leanne Stickland, who founded social media community Cockburn Pets and Wildlife, was already looking for a dachshund owner when she came across Mr Velterop.<\/p>\n

By then the puppy was very thin and had been spotted near busy roads, adding to the urgency of the search.<\/p>\n

Feed stations and traps were set up.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A portrait shot of Henry the sausage dog before he went missing. (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

Ms Stickland said the community effort to find Henry was unprecedented, even involving a group chat called “Henry’s helpers”.<\/p>\n

“The community needs to be really proud of themselves and how well these complete strangers came and worked together for the sake of someone’s missing dog,” she said.<\/p>\n

Their efforts were pivotal in narrowing down Henry’s location, but he proved to be a wily operator.<\/p>\n

The pup was captured on CCTV taking food without triggering traps on several occasions.<\/p>\n

The breakthrough<\/p>\n

On April 18, Banjup resident Rikki Howley heard whimpering coming from her shed.<\/p>\n

Her family had spotted an animal on their property and had been leaving food out, but were not aware of the search underway for Henry.<\/p>\n

“I saw a little nose poke around the corner, so I ran because I knew if he got out of the shed I wouldn’t have a chance of catching him,” Ms Howley said.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The hiding spot on Rikki’s property she believes Henry hid. (Supplied: Rikki Howley)<\/p>\n

She tempted Henry with some chicken and wrapped him up with a blanket.<\/p>\n

“My heart just about broke \u2026 I thought he’s going to bite me,” she said.<\/p>\n

“But he looked at me almost like ‘thank you, you saved me’.”\"A<\/p>\n

Henry was emaciated when he was found. (Supplied: Rikki Howley)<\/p>\n

Ms Howley took Henry straight to the vet to be assessed and checked for a microchip.<\/p>\n

And soon after, Steve Velterop received a phone call he will never forget.<\/p>\n

The vet told him Henry was extremely skinny and tired, but alive.<\/p>\n

“I was absolutely stunned and bewildered, I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Henry<\/p>\n

Henry brings his bowl to Steve for seconds after being on a diet restriction. (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

“I asked them when I could go and see him, they said ‘straight away’.<\/p>\n

“[When I arrived] he looked up at me and the tip of his tail wagged. I went down to him and he gave me a little kiss.<\/p>\n

“I think he was spent. He had nothing left in his tank.”<\/p>\n

Lessons learned<\/p>\n

Henry is not the first dachshund to embark on an adventure.<\/p>\n

A dog named Valerie made international headlines in 2025 after being found on South Australia’s Kangaroo Island after 529 days in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

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Co-founder of K9 Welfare Mission, Calli Clinton, said when a frightened dog is approached or called, their instinct is to run away.<\/p>\n

She said it is best to stay calm, stay home and make a meal that could draw the dog back to your home.<\/p>\n

She said owners should contact an organisation who can advise on next steps.<\/p>\n

“Every situation is different, and every dog breed and personality is different, so we like to speak to owners to get the whole picture,” she said.<\/p>\n

Henry’s helpers<\/p>\n

Mr Velterop paid tribute to the community in Atwell and surrounding suburbs.<\/p>\n

“It’s very difficult to express in words the appreciation I have for everyone,” he said.\"A<\/p>\n

Steve reunited with Henry the puppy at last. (Supplied: Steve Velterop)<\/p>\n

“Not only the direct helpers, but everyone who looked out for him and reached out with kind words.”<\/p>\n

Henry is recovering well at home \u2014 and as for future escape attempts?<\/p>\n

“I’ve got a no-escape harness ordered,” Mr Velterop said.<\/p>\n

“He’s very cheeky but a very sweet boy, and he tries so hard to do the right thing.”<\/p>\n

Western Independent is produced by journalism students at Curtin University, Perth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dachshund puppy has been reunited with its owner after being lost for almost three months in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,305365,305370,33479,305363,305364,305371,25160,280725,305359,305372,305367,305362,305361,45318,305366,44,46,86,305360,305358,305357,187420,305369,305368,45],"class_list":{"0":"post-630193","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-dachshund","11":"tag-dashound","12":"tag-goodnews","13":"tag-henry-the-dachshund","14":"tag-henry-the-sausage-dog","15":"tag-henrys-helpers","16":"tag-kangaroo-island","17":"tag-leanne-campbell","18":"tag-leanne-strickland","19":"tag-lost-and-hound","20":"tag-lost-dog","21":"tag-lost-dog-perth","22":"tag-lost-dogs","23":"tag-missing","24":"tag-missing-dog","25":"tag-news","26":"tag-perth","27":"tag-perth-news","28":"tag-rikki-howley","29":"tag-steve-campbell","30":"tag-steve-veltertop","31":"tag-valerie","32":"tag-valerie-the-dachshund","33":"tag-valerie-the-sausage-dog","34":"tag-wa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=630193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}