In an icy lagoon with subzero temperatures, a black Labrador mix pacing back and forth was spotted by animal control officers.
The dog was standing at the bottom of a 10-foot embankment, stranded in the snow and ice along with the freezing temperatures. The officers also found a nest, which they believe showed that the Labrador had been living there for a couple of days now with no source of food.
“It took two officers to capture the dog and it took five of us to get her to safety,” Chris Harriman, an animal control officer, told KCTV News 5.
“As soon as we had a leash on her, she went from this fear of people to remembering that people are safe. She trusted me and we were able to handle her like any other dog, which was fortunate because we had to put her in a kennel and rope the kennel up the rock wall to her to safety.”
It took about five people to help the poor dog back to the top. Luckily, the dog was wearing a tag with her owner’s contact number and the reunion was put into place.
“I was really crying because I was happy,” Melissa Oppenheim, the owner, said to local media. “ I was excited. I was on the floor crying.”
Apparently, Kara the dog had been out there for almost 73 days and Harriman said Kara was 10 miles away from her owner’s house.
“She’d lost a little over 20 pounds, and she’d been about 80 pounds,” Dr. Angela Holt, Kara’s veterinarian at Chipman Road Animal Clinic, said. “But, honestly, considering her circumstances, she looked fantastic.”
Watch their reunion here:
