Smidgie has had quite a weekend. The cuddly corgi, a beloved member of the Cardinal family of Brampton, was taken “hostage” during an alleged vehicle theft, left to wander alone in a strange town, taken in by a good Samaritan and then, finally, reunited with her frantic owners.

Smidgie has been an anchor of the Cardinal family since they bought her from a breeder last October. The 7-year-old dog has been a source of comfort during a stressful time, so when Wayne Cardinal saw that the vehicle he had briefly left her in was gone, his heart sank.

“Smidgie has been our lifeline during my wife’s cancer” and six rounds of chemotherapy, Cardinal said Saturday. “Without Smidgie, we had no healing dog.”

Cardinal had left Smidgie in his locked pickup truck at around 1:30 Friday afternoon, when he parked at the No Frills plaza on Queen St. E. in Brampton for a quick run to a fish-and-chips shop.

But when he returned, the truck — and Smidgie — had disappeared.

After desperately searching the parking lot for any sign of his truck or Smidgie, Cardinal went to a nearby store to call police and his family. His daughter frantically took to social media to ask for help in finding the beloved pet.

“I was shocked — not just for the truck, but mostly for Smidgie,” Cardinal said. “My heart was right down in my feet.

“We spent a very bad night.”

Hours later, a shivering Smidgie was found at Rotary Park in Orangeville — 40 kilometres away — by a man walking through the park, Peel Region police said. The man thought the corgi, who was alone and without the collar she’d had on when Cardinal left her, was lost. He tried to contact animal services, but when there was no response, he kept the dog overnight.

Cardinal said the man told him he made a bed for Smidgie in his living room and slept on the couch so she wouldn’t be alone.

On Saturday, a friend recognized Smidgie after seeing her on the news and the man contacted Peel police, who drove Cardinal to Orangeville to confirm the dog’s identity.

When he saw her, he says, his heart lifted.

“When I went into the house, she barked at me like, ‘Where did you go? What did you do to me?’ ” Cardinal said. “My heart came back up. I was ecstatic.”

Wayne and his wife, Helen, are deeply relieved and grateful to have their furry companion back home again. And the healing has already begun.

She’s back to her normal, energetic self and is “doing just fine,” Cardinal said. “And we have our healing dog again.”

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The truck has still not been found and police have not determined how Smidgie ended up in Orangeville.

The truck is described as a black 1998 Ford F150 with Ontario licence plate 962 5VC. Anyone with information is asked to call police at (905) 453-2121, ext. 2233.

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