Zachary Anderegg has been mountaineering in the slot canyons of Page, Arizona for years. He thought he’d seen it all… until one day in 2010.
On that day, Zachary lowered himself deep inside a canyon. He was exploring a 350-foot crevice– all the while filming his expedition– when he caught sight of movement. That’s when he saw it.
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It was a little black puppy, starving and dehydrated. He couldn’t have fallen into the pothole where Zachary found him, because he didn’t have any broken bones, not even scrapes. Someone, Zachary guessed, had left him there to die.
It’s just the last place in the world you’d expect to find a dog. I looked over the edge, and I saw this black thing just walking in circles. My first thought was perhaps it was a cow, because there’s a lot of grazing in the area.
He was very bony, and for some reason it struck me that he might be a little calf. And then the longer I looked at him, I realized he’s actually a dog.
This puppy was just 24-48 hours from death; if Zachary were going to do something, he had to move quickly. So he climbed back out of the canyon and returned soon after, bringing water to tide the puppy over until he could return the following day.
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When he did, he brought with him a pet carrier that a local veterinarian had donated to the effort, and within 24 hours of finding him, the two were safely back at the surface. From there, Zachary took the puppy to the vet for a thorough checkup, which revealed this fuzzy little guy not only managed to keep himself alive for at least a week, maybe even two, but survived a typically deadly bout of distemper.
Something tells us he knew all along that Zachary was on his way to save him…
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Zachary adopted the pup, now named Riley, and brought him home with him to Utah, where he’s spent the last eight years living the dream, alongside his canine brother, Kohi.
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Three years later, Zachary wrote a book about the experience, “Rescuing Riley, Saving Myself: A Man and His Dog’s Struggle To Find Salvation.†In it, he describes suffering at the hands of bullies for years as a child, and that in rescuing Riley, “Zak was also attempting to save himself, conquering the currents of cruelty that swelled beneath his early life and always threatened to drown him.”
We’ll never know how this poor pup ended up in such dire circumstances. But we do know that this brave and determined man would do whatever it took to get him to safety, and thanks to him, Riley today is unrecognizable from the puppy let in the canyon.
And he’s lived to have some truly incredible adventures!
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Watch the video below to see Zachary rescuing Riley from the canyon. Share to spread thanks to Zachary and all the other people who refuse to give up when they see an animal in need.
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