A man and his puppy have been reunited after a crash that left his hand mangled and that left the young dog stranded in the Arizona desert for two weeks.
Michael Crocker said he and the puppy, Bella, were driving through the desert near Flagstaff when he fell asleep and veered off the side of the road, reports CBS News.
The puppy was believed to have either run away from the accident or may have been ejected from the wreckage, leading Crocker's family to enlist the help of rescue groups.
After 13 days, they discovered the puppy near the site of the crash. Her leash had been stuck in branches. While reports have said she'd been without food or water for almost the whole time, veterinarian Dr. Jesse Saul, who worked to save the dehydrated, starving puppy' life told The Arizona Daily Sun that "the only thing that saved her life was the snow, and the hail, and the rain, and the puddles on the side of the highway that were probably splashing on top of her."
The puppy's condition was serious, though. Crocker said that Bella's leash being stuck kept her from finding food, but it also kept her from getting hit by a car and kept her in place so she could be rescued.
Bella had suffered internal bleeding and was extremely dehydrated and emaciated, and required a blood transfusion as she was anemic, said Saul.
She was released to Crocker's stepmother, Mary, four days after she was found, and was reunited with her owner in Southern California, where they are recovering together.
“Bella knew exactly who [Michael] was, wagged her tail and immediately went over to him,” she told The Arizona Sun. He said he was surprised at how much smaller his puppy was after she'd lost so much weight.
“They have been inseparable ever since,” Mary Crocker said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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