It was June 9 when Jeff Bohnert’s poodle-hound mix Abby went missing.
Abby, nearly 14, and Bohnert’s other dog, Summer, had run away from home. Their absence came as no surprise to Bohnert, as the dogs often ran through the fields near the Perryville, MO, home.
However, by the next morning only Summer had returned.
JEFF BOHNERT’S POODLE-HOUND MIX ABBY WENT MISSING.ON JUNE 9.
“They never separate,” Bohnert told the Associated Press. “I figured something bad had happened. I mean, she’s old. She could just get overcome by the heat.”
After posting the news of Abby’s disappearance on Facebook, Bohnert contacted the police and asked others in his neighborhood if they had seen her. Two months passed and Bohnert was starting to lose hope, then he heard news that a dog was found by some local hikers.
A GROUP OF CAVE EXPLORERS FOUND ABBY IN A DARK CAVE.
It was Aug. 6 when a group of six adults and five children went for a hike in the Berome Moore Cave. Running ahead of the group, one of the children noticed a dog in the cave, and relayed the info to his father, Gerry Keene.
“There’s a dog in here,” the child called out.
“Their dad was like, ‘No there’s not,’” Keene said.
But the kid was right.
ABBY HAD LOST HALF HER BODY WEIGHT OVER THE COURSE OF NEARLY TWO MONTHS ON HER OWN.
“She was just lying there curled up in a ball,” Keene told the AP. “She lifted her head and looked at us but she didn’t respond to verbal commands. She looked like she was pretty close to being done.”
Abby had spent close to 60 days on her own in the cold, dark cave. She was hungry and tired, and in no shape to climb 500 feet back out of the cave.
TWO EXPERIENCED CAVERS HELPED BRING ABBY UP TO THE SURFACE.
Keene asked Rick Haley, a fellow caver who is trained in cave rescues, to help maneuver Abby back to the surface. Using a duffel bag and a blanket, they carefully carried out of the cave and Abby back to safety.
“It was critical that we not give her any rough handling,” Haley said. In the rocky areas through small passageways, “We would carry her short distance, set her down, then kind of move in front of her, reach back, pick her up, and put her in front of us.” He described it as “kind of a leap-frog kind of thing.”
After the rescue, Keene went door to door around the local neighborhood, trying to find out who owned the dog. One neighbor who knew Bohnert was gracious enough to share a picture.
“I said, ‘that’s my dog,’” Bohnert said, incredulous that Abby had survived.
BOHNERT DID NOT BELIEVE AT FIRST THAT ABBY HAD BEEN FOUND.
Bohnert made the short trip from his home to the cave where he was reunited with his furry friend.
Abby was excited to see her friend, but looking gaunt, having lost half her body weight during the ordeal. Paw prints around the cave indicate that Abby may have fallen into a sinkhole or hidden entrance and became trapped. With seemingly no way out, the dog curled up to conserve what energy she had left.
“I think she was just in a preservation mode,” Bohnert said.
ABBY IS NOW HOME SAFE AND SOUND.
Dogs are a resilient species, though, and it wasn’t long before Abby bounced back.
“It’s amazing how she’s springing back already,” Bohnert said. “She’s acting like herself again.”
Hopefully, she’s learned a lesson about straying far from home.
Learn more about his thrilling rescue in the following video.
