Dog reunited with owner after 53 days in desert
Source: Agencies |
March 6, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BARBARA Bagley says she never gave up hope that her dog would be found alive in the Nevada desert, the US, after it bolted from the scene of a crash that critically injured her and killed her husband.
But the Salt Lake City woman endured plenty of frustration until four-year-old Shetland sheepdog Dooley was tracked down on February 18, after surviving 53 days in the wild on roadkill and ranch water sources.
"I would think about Dooley constantly," she said. "There were TV commercials with dogs that made me think about him and cry. He's the sweetest dog."
The December 27 single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain, about 360 kilometers east of Reno, sent Bagley and her 55-year-old husband, Brad Vom Baur, to the hospital in critical condition. Dooley ran away and vanished.
Bagley, 48, suffered concussion, broken ribs, a shattered wrist and two punctured lungs. As soon as she mustered enough strength, she turned her attention to a search for her dog in the sprawling plains and hills of northeastern Nevada.
But on January 6 what appeared to be Dooley's remains were found. The same day, Bagley's husband died.
"It was a horrible day for me," Bagley recalled. "But something inside me told me Dooley was still alive out there."
More than three weeks later, Bagley's spirits were buoyed after a woman reported spotting "a Lassie-type" dog near the accident scene.
Further searches netted a positive identification of Dooley but frustration as well because the dog kept fleeing from Bagley and searchers. Finally, Shannon Sustacha of Lamoille, who was on horseback, and a Bagley friend in a Jeep cornered Dooley eight kilometers from the crash and put him in the vehicle.
An ecstatic, tearful Bagley arrived at the scene a short time later. "Barbara got next to us and said three times, 'You think he'll remember me?'" Sustacha said. "When Barbara opened the door and looked at him, she said, 'My beautiful boy, my beautiful boy, you're home.'"
During his ordeal, Dooley's weight dropped from 20 to nine kilograms. He was once spotted devouring a dead coyote along the roadway. Since then, the dog has gradually put on weight.
Bagley, a phlebotomy supervisor at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, thinks her husband had something to do with Dooley's safe return. "It's a message from my husband who was looking out for him," she said.
But the Salt Lake City woman endured plenty of frustration until four-year-old Shetland sheepdog Dooley was tracked down on February 18, after surviving 53 days in the wild on roadkill and ranch water sources.
"I would think about Dooley constantly," she said. "There were TV commercials with dogs that made me think about him and cry. He's the sweetest dog."
The December 27 single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain, about 360 kilometers east of Reno, sent Bagley and her 55-year-old husband, Brad Vom Baur, to the hospital in critical condition. Dooley ran away and vanished.
Bagley, 48, suffered concussion, broken ribs, a shattered wrist and two punctured lungs. As soon as she mustered enough strength, she turned her attention to a search for her dog in the sprawling plains and hills of northeastern Nevada.
But on January 6 what appeared to be Dooley's remains were found. The same day, Bagley's husband died.
"It was a horrible day for me," Bagley recalled. "But something inside me told me Dooley was still alive out there."
More than three weeks later, Bagley's spirits were buoyed after a woman reported spotting "a Lassie-type" dog near the accident scene.
Further searches netted a positive identification of Dooley but frustration as well because the dog kept fleeing from Bagley and searchers. Finally, Shannon Sustacha of Lamoille, who was on horseback, and a Bagley friend in a Jeep cornered Dooley eight kilometers from the crash and put him in the vehicle.
An ecstatic, tearful Bagley arrived at the scene a short time later. "Barbara got next to us and said three times, 'You think he'll remember me?'" Sustacha said. "When Barbara opened the door and looked at him, she said, 'My beautiful boy, my beautiful boy, you're home.'"
During his ordeal, Dooley's weight dropped from 20 to nine kilograms. He was once spotted devouring a dead coyote along the roadway. Since then, the dog has gradually put on weight.
Bagley, a phlebotomy supervisor at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, thinks her husband had something to do with Dooley's safe return. "It's a message from my husband who was looking out for him," she said.
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