If you want to hike alone in the woods, it’s always a good deal to bring along your canine best friend.
A hiker in Nevada recently learned that lesson the hard way. A 53-year-old man was hiking in the woods in Nevada County when he fell down a 70-foot embankment. He was badly injured, breaking his hip and ribs, but he managed to drag himself to a spot with cell service and call for help.
After calling for help around noon, the man covered himself in a camouflage tarp and waited for help to arrive. His border collie, Saul, waited by his side.
Twenty-five members of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue organization arrived to find the hiker, whose last GPS location was used to get to the general vicinity, but with miles of vast wilderness around them, they worried it would take a long time to find him.
Seven hours later, the search was still going on when, suddenly, a black dog bounded up to a group of rescuers. It was Saul!
“(Saul) was jumping up and down and spinning around in circles,” said Sgt. Dennis Haack of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue. “He took them right to the victim.”
Saul lead searchers about 200 yards to where his owner lay. Thanks to the dog, they found him before he had to spend a second night in agony in the woods, just seven hours after he first called for help. He was taken by air ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.
Sgt. Haack says he initially didn’t believe it when he heard about the real-life Lassie scenario that played out in the woods.
“At first we didn’t believe it because it sounded like a movie,” said Sgt. Haack “When they came back and actually described it to us, the reality was that they had followed the dog directly to the victim.”
According to a Facebook post about the event, Saul the hero dog was given a “well-deserved dinner” and is being cared for by a local animal shelter while his owner recovers in the hospital.
Now that’s a good dog! We always knew dogs were the most loyal companions around, but this story reminds us that they can really save lives, too.
Share this story to give Saul a virtual pat on the head.
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