NEAR SARASOTA, Fla. (WSVN) — A lost dog who was missing for months was finally found with the help of social media.
The dog breed, named Miles, was lost along with three other dogs when Hurricane Milton hit Florida.
“The fence broke and he escaped on the morning of October 10th,” owner Deborah Newell said.
Three of the dogs eventually returned, but Miles was nowhere to be found.
As the days passed, the hope that Miles would come home was fleeting, and one of the other dogs, Curtis, was losing his luster.
“Mr. Curtis was just sitting by the kitchen window looking sad,” Newell said.
Meanwhile, Ginger Gordon and Kent Hickman of Beach Paw Rescue stumbled upon a call for help on Facebook.
“Then I happened to see a post about Ruskin Pose,” Ginger Gordon said. “A girl was fishing quite late the night before. She said she saw a red hound that looked like a skeleton.”
The post said the dog was near railroad tracks along a river outside Sarasota.
It was an area Gordon and Hickman knew well.
“I woke him up and said, ‘Hey, we’ve fished here many times,'” Gordon said.
The two entered the area to search for Miles. That quest will ultimately pay off.
“We’ve walked pretty far down the tracks because there’s no road. Look who you can see here,” Gordon said. “It’s a red hound.”
After finding Miles, they use social media to find the owner and discover several posts with Deborah’s name and number.
“We called her and she said, ‘That’s my Miles.’ That’s definitely Miles.
Newell soon arrived with food, water, and a blanket for Curtis.
“Miles! Let’s get some puppy treats. Puppy treats.”
It was Curtis’ scent that made him let his guard down.
“I looked to my left and saw him creeping towards the blanket,” Newell said. “When he got the treat, he ran up to me and kind of fell into my arms.”
It was the reunion Newell had been praying for for months after Tropical Storm Hit.
“Please, sweetheart,” she said. “Please. Let me get you some water.”
A few days later, Miles returned home to recover. According to the owner, the dog is being gradually reintroduced to other dogs.
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