When a Boulder Creek, California family realized they accidentally left their 12-year-old dog outside, they began to panic since she is completely blind.
The family immediately looked around their property, but the elderly Labrador Retriever, Sage, was nowhere to be found. “Ten of our neighbors joined our family in the search that lasted until late that night,” said owner Beth Cole, who knew how dangerous it would be for Sage to be lost and on her own. “Then they came back to help for several days after that.”
Eight terrifying days passed but there was still no sign of Sage. “We have predators in the area, so we thought there was a chance she’d died,” Cole said. However, the family refused to give up and put flyers up, talked to neighbors, and posted on social media about their missing dog.
On the eighth day, however, neighbor Dan Estrada went on a hike with a friend with his two dogs and stumbled upon Sage next to a stream. “At first I thought it was a trash bag, so I was actually frustrated,” Estrada said. “Nobody wants people dumping trash in the forest. Then I looked closer, and I saw that it was Sage.”
But Sage wasn’t moving and Estrada’s heart sank since he thought she was dead. But his friend noticed Sage weekly pick her head up.”He yelled, ‘Dude, she’s alive.’,” said Estrada. “I climbed a lot quicker, jumped into the stream and hustled over to her. I put my arms around her and kissed her and started to pet her. And she was able to hold her head up and wag her tail.”
As they carefully made the trek back home, they contacted Cole and told her the good news. “They were crying, they were happy. We were about halfway up the mountain, and I could see that they were all teary-eyed,” said Estrada, who decided to donate the $1,000 reward to an animal rescue organization. “It’s been harsh conditions and that dog had such a strong will to live,” Estrada said. “And I think everybody has a lesson to be learned from that: Don’t give up.”
Can you imagine how scared Sage must have been all alone in the mountain for days? Let us know what you think in the comments below and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Dan Estrada]
Lost Blind Dog Found Alive After Eight Days On Mountain is an article from: LifeDaily