While Canada Day revellers were basking in the glow of the fireworks exploding before them on July 1, one visitor was beginning the most frantic week of her life. 

As the first firework blasted off from the Centennial Park lawn, Amanda Skwarok’s beloved dog, aptly named Jasper, broke away from her grasp in terror, and disappeared into the crowd of people.

“With three strong pulls and wiggles, to my greatest horror he broke free from his collar,” Amanda said. 

Her boyfriend, Nathan Kennedy, chased after the tiny white pooch, even managing to grab his tail before he slipped away into the massive crowd. It would be the last time the pair would see Jasper for many days. 

“Jasper still managed to escape [Nathan’s] grip and run as far away as possible from the fireworks,” Amanda said. 

Without a second thought, Amanda and Nathan jumped into action, ignoring the boom of the fireworks sailing into the sky. 

“I only saw the one firework at the beginning, the rest lit up my path through a sea of people and with each explosion my heart sank deeper and deeper,” Amanda said.

The pair searched the crowd, but as the fireworks ended, people began streaming out of the park, making the search even more difficult – and making Amanda terrified that the tiny white dog could be run over by a car. Nathan and Amanda continued to search, hoping someone had picked up the dog and was trying to find his owner. Eventually they hopped in their vehicle and drove all over town shouting for Jasper – a strange sight indeed for a passerby in the town of Jasper. 

“Each passing moment was a dagger to the stomach,” Amanda said. 

Jasper still hadn’t turned up as the night moved on, so Amanda got on the phone to Bylaw, Parks Canada, the Park Warden’s office – even the taxi companies – to keep an eye out for the dog. The search finished up four hours after it began, and an exhausted Amanda and Nathan returned to their campsite for a sleepless night without the beloved canine. 

Amanda was up at the crack of dawn to commence the search for Jasper. She used a recent photo of Jasper to make up some posters and put them up all over town. As they were putting them up at various locations, a woman approached them and said her daughter may have spotted the pup at the Whistlers Campground earlier that morning. Amanda rushed out to the campground and searched for hours, but did not find Jasper. A call came in from a woman that afternoon saying she saw Jasper running up the road to the tramway and hostel at about 12:30 a.m. following the fireworks. 

“It was hard to believe that he managed to make it out of the town and head up Highway 93 all the way to that area,” Amanda said. 

Again, she searched the area but did not find the five-year-old dog. It was now clear that Jasper had taken refuge somewhere around Whistlers Mountain – but the campground was full and Amanda was unable to get a campsite. She returned to her site at Mt. Kerkeslin, and hoped for the best. 

Nathan had to return to his job on the Monday following the fireworks, so Amanda’s parents came to Jasper to help in the search – Amanda was determined to not leave without her pet. 

On the third day, Amanda finally received a call from a tramway worker that had spotted the little white dog on the side of the road. The family rushed up to the tramway within 15 minutes and searched with assistance from one of the hostel workers and a man who went hiking in search of Jasper to help out. 

Finally a spot opened up at Whistlers Campground, and Amanda and her parents moved in. There they set out Jasper’s belongings with food, water and some clothing of theirs so that the Miniature American Eskimo and Bichon Frisé cross might pick up on the scent.

“At this time, and with this many sightings all in the same area, it was clear Jasper was smart enough to try and find me since we were camping during our stay in Jasper,” Amanda said. 

The staff at the campground gave them a great spot near the road so that Amanda could keep an eye out in the mornings. Once they were settled in the campground, the search continued. 

The week dragged on. Some days would go by without a single call reporting a sighting, and some would send them rushing to areas around Whistlers in search of Jasper. 

“The ups and downs from the sightings but not being able to catch him were heart breaking,” Amanda said. “Within a few days the whole town knew about Jasper’s situation and so many people reached out.”

With that help, Amanda received suggestions and support of all kinds. One woman who helped in the search of another famous missing Jasper pooch named Breeze, hiked around Whistlers Mountain in search of Jasper. 

Finally on day five, Amanda’s mother spotted Jasper, but the dog had gone into survival mode and refused to go towards her. 

“That’s when we knew he had gone into a wild survival state of mind and no matter what we did he wouldn’t come to us,” Amanda said. “At this point it was hard not to let hope and faith slip away. [We were] feeling like all those miles hiked for hours on end were pointless. We literally hiked that entire mountain.”

Finally the woman who had hiked Whistlers for Amanda suggested she call Parks Canada and look into setting up a trap for Jasper. Parks, although worried about accidently catching other wild animals, came out with a trap to catch little Jasper. 

“Another night passed and the chances of him being alive were always fifty-fifty and capturing him was like finding a needle in a haystack,” Amanda said. 

The day after the trap was set, Amanda and her parents hiked Whistlers again, and finally found some evidence of Jasper in the area. They moved the trap to that location, and suddenly the calls started pouring in. 

“We then figured he was using these trails on Whistlers Mountain to go from the campsite for food and the river for water,” Amanda said. 

The weather began to get ugly, and a storm rolled in. Amanda was sure the little dog would be scared off by the thunderclaps, and at risk of contracting hypothermia from the cold. 

Amanda began checking the trap every two hours, and finally on the sixth day, she spotted Jasper licking water off the trap. Unfortunately Jasper took off when he saw her, but Amanda, who had owned Jasper since he was 13 weeks old, was not deterred. She reset the trap, which may have been triggered by the rain, and left some wet dog food for Jasper. 

On Friday, a week after Jasper disappeared, Amanda and her parents were checking the trap every three hours, but there was no sign of Jasper. At 11 a.m. they went for another check, but this time Amanda sent her father while she waited in the truck. She was surprised when she saw him hustling back towards the vehicle – but he didn’t have Jasper with him. 

“He came back quickly and I had myself convinced that he didn’t see much,” Amanda said. “Then instead of going to the driver’s side he starts walking toward my door.”

Instead of delivering bad news or grabbing more bait, her father tearfully told her that Jasper was securely inside the trap.

Jasper was soaking wet, shivering and filthy. Amanda slowly crept towards the trap, but Jasper whimpered and wagged his tail as she approached. The trap was loaded up, and Jasper was taken back to the campsite and secured inside the trailer before he was released. 

“He was cuddly and just wanted attention,” Amanda said. 

Jasper was skinny and had blisters on his paws from all the trekking, but otherwise in good shape. 

After the experience of losing the dog she calls her baby, Amanda has learned many lessons about dog ownership, and never losing hope. She has been travelling with Jasper since the first summer she had him, and he has even been on some hikes in the Jasper area.

Amanda said she has always been cautious travelling with the dog, but has stepped things up since his disappearing act. She purchased a harness so that Jasper can’t wriggle out of his collar, and has learned some valuable lessons that she hopes to pass on to other pet owners. 

“If there is any advice I can give, one: never take your dog to the fireworks and two: never lose hope, faith or your perseverance.”