Whidbey Island man needs your help to find life-saving service dog

A Whidbey Island man has spent thousands of dollars to find his lost dog, and he says he won’t stop until he does—but he needs your help.

Mike Wildeman says his lovable 13-year-old black Labrador retriever Tank, went missing from his Greenbank home just north of South Whidbey Island State Park on November 12.

Since then, Wildeman has put up countless posters, flyers and signs, and he has even created a command center inside his house, complete with maps where pins mark places the Wildemans have looked or where Tank has allegedly been spotted.

“We have the Facebook account that has reached over 270,000 people at this point. It’s just that one person—we need to reach that one person,” Mike tells us.

It’s heartbreaking any time a pet goes missing, but Tank is not just a pet.

“People say they’re their dog's owner—I say I’m Tank’s friend,” Mike explains. That’s because Tank has saved Mike’s life.

He’s a service dog who for more than a decade has alerted Mike—a diabetic—when his blood sugar dropped or rose to dangerous levels.

“It’s multiple times, not just one, where I’ve been incapacitated on the floor,” Mike recalls. Tank is trained to nudge Mike under his chin until he responds.

Mike is so desperate to find him, that he consulted psychics and spent thousands of dollars to hire a dog tracker out of Idaho whose canines tracked Tank to the beach south of Greenbank.

“We tracked Tank all around that neighborhood to a location in front of a home where we believe he was loaded into a vehicle and taken away from here,” Mike says.

While we were there Mike got a call from a man who believes he may have seen Tank, so we jumped in the car and followed Mike and his sister Laurie to a neighborhood around Admiralty Inlet.

“I have a feeling in the way that he said, ‘I think this was your dog’-- it sent goosebumps up me,” Mike says.

He placed a few door hangers, called for Tank, and then we had to say goodbye. But Mike’s efforts will continue until he brings Tank home.

“He has saved me so many times,; it’s my turn to save him and I’m going to.”

Here’s some information Mike would like you to know: Tank had surgery on his larynx and so he doesn’t bark. He has a gray muzzle and one gray toe. He also has a fatty tumor on the inside of his left shoulder that is visible if you are close enough to him. If you find Tank, don’t chase him. Call Mike immediately at 360-474-4844.

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