When a beloved resident of the Lopez Island, Washington, disappeared in late January, community members rallied together to bring their canine friend and neighbor home.
Sage, a 14-year-old golden retriever, went missing from his home on the small island community of fewer than 3,000 people back on Jan. 23. His owner, Jane Albrecht, shared the news on her personal Facebook page in the hopes that her friends would help her track down her “beautiful boy” who has numerous special needs.
“LOST DOG!!” she wrote. “My Golden Retriever Sage is missing! He became disoriented after a seizure Friday night and disappeared from our home near Richardson on the south end of Lopez. He is a friendly 14-year-old Golden in good physical condition but deaf.”
Soon afterward, people starting leaving comments offering help to search for Sage. Albrecht continued to look throughout her property and surrounding areas with no luck.
Her friends and neighbors started working together to track down Sage. They traveled by foot and by car and even used drones overhead to try to find the lost pup. In a detailed description of the search shared by Albrecht’s friend and one of the searchers, Stephanie Vallejo described how a 6-year-0ld boy even volunteered to help by crawling into a tunnel to look for Sage.
“This sweet young one looked at his mama and said, ‘I can fit,'” Vallejo posted on her Facebook page.
Each day that passed without finding Sage, people worried that the dog — who has an enlarged heart, arthritis and a seizure-causing condition — might not be found alive.
But, on the fifth day, a searcher found Sage not far away from home but trapped in a cove. It took someone in a canoe and a few people to help rescue him from the rising tides.
The poor pup was stuck on the rocks at the bottom of a steep path when the rescuers pulled him to safety on a kayak.
Posted by Stephanie Vallejo on Saturday, January 30, 2021
After some much-needed medical attention, Sage has returned home and continues to recover. Vallejo shared some videos from Albrecht of Sage eating, resting and even walking a little bit on his own.
There’s nothing better than a story about a brave dog and a happy ending, is there? Get well soon, Sage, we’re glad you’re home!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
