Lost dogs rarely capture international attention but for several weeks the world has watched and waited for updates on the search for Valerie, a miniature dachshund missing in the Australian wilderness. Then on Friday night, after 529 days roaming Kangaroo Island, off South Australia, the tiny dog with a pink collar was finally cornered, and the internet erupted with rare joy. “Valerie has been safely rescued and is fit and well,” Kangala Wildlife Rescue announced on its Facebook group on Friday night to a flurry of likes and shares. Key to her rescue was a smelly T-shirt worn by her owner in 12-hour shifts that was ripped up and used as a scent trail to attract her to an enclosure, Kangala directors Jared and Lisa Karran said in a video posted to Facebook. “We were able to rip little strips off of it, and we started the process of just…
