Winter weather comes with its own set of hazards, but it can be particularly dangerous for animals without shelter. One blind 13-year-old dog was found in dire straits after spending five nights huddled in a window well in bitter temperatures. He was found just in time by a neighbour who stumbled upon him by chance.
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Emily Raguse of Eden Prairie, Minnesota, rarely frequents the spare bedroom in her basement, but for some reason, she decided to look inside, a fluke decision that ended up saving one canine’s life. Slight motion outside the window of the bedroom caught Emily’s eye, and when she went to investigate further, she saw a heartbreaking sight.
A dog was cooped up in the window well, curled up and covered in snow. Raguse immediately called local authorities and then went to check on the dog. “He was really, really lethargic, so he pretty much was only moving his head a little bit,” Raguse told KARE 11. “I grabbed a towel from the house to put on top of him because he was obviously cold. He was shivering.”
Raguse had been out of town so she had no idea how long the dog had been there nor would she have noticed him had she not randomly decided to enter the basement spare bedroom. When police arrived, they identified the Goldendoodle from his tag, which revealed his name, “Buddy,” and his owner’s contact information.
Once police got in contact with Buddy’s owner, Patsy Sumpter, they realized just how lucky this dog was to be alive. The 13-year-old blind Goldendoodle also happened to be battling cancer, and Sumpter was worried sick when he never returned after she had let him out five days earlier.
“Normally he goes down in the woods and he comes back,” Sumpter told KARE 11. “And he didn’t come back. And I kept calling and calling. The weather changed and it snowed that next morning and it just got worse and worse, and I just felt so helpless.”
Little did Sumpter know, Buddy was close enough that he could have heard her calls, however, he just couldn’t make it back out of the window well. “I prayed and prayed and it’s just so miraculous that they found him,” said Sumpter. “I don’t think he would have made it one more night.”
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