AVON, Conn. (WTNH) – A dog from Avon was found safe after being missing for 10 days.
“My mind was just racing, but I was still trying to have the faith that she would be okay,” said Gaby, who said her dog, Stella, got out of their yard Aug. 5 and was found Aug.15 on a boulder field in Avon.
Karen Moulton, is a member of the Farmington Valley Lost Pet Recovery, an organization she started in 2014 to find lost pets.
“People go, ‘Why do you do it?’ It’s a lot of work, yea,” Moulton said while wiping her tears. “I do it because I care.”
Moulton, a former search-and-rescue dog handler and shelter volunteer, says the hunt for Stella was her largest rescue to date, and after searching for 10 days, she heard the dog near Goodwill Trail.
“I heard howling across Secret Lake, on the other side where the cliffs are,” Moulton said.
Moulton called Gaby, and the two discovered the pooch perched about 75 feet up the boulder field.
They say Tuesday’s rain made it difficult to climb the slippery, moss-covered stones.
The Simsbury and Avon Volunteer Fire departments were called in to help.
“[Stella] was running away from me and other firemen, and [Gaby] being right there was able to keep the dog calm,” said Chief Bruce Appell of the Avon Volunteer Fire Department. “[Gaby] was able to get right up to the dog.”
First responders got ahold of Stella. It’s believed she spent days on the rocks.
Gaby says the two-and-a-half-year-old Labrador-Pitbull mix lost 13 pounds, suffered bumps and bruises, and lost a toenail; but the main thing is that Stella was saved.
“So much relief,” Gaby said while wiping tears. “I didn’t want to go home without her.”
Moulton says her recovery business relies on donations, but there was no price tag to finding stella.
“I just couldn’t believe I put it together,” Moulton said.
Stella’s padded paws went from bouncing on boulders to a couch cushion next to her owner.
“[Stella] is my best friend,” Gaby said. “I love her to death, and I don’t know where I would be without her.”
Gaby said she doesn’t know where she would be without Moulton’s help.
“Especially in the society that we live in today, we think everyone is for themselves,” Gaby said. “But there are still some good people out there.”
No injuries were reported following the rescue, and Appell says the dog was brought to a local veterinarian hospital to be checked.
