Blind and alone in Alaska winter temperatures that dipped 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-40 degrees Celsius), a lost 8-year-old Fairbanks dog wasn’t given much of a chance to make it home.

But after walking 10 miles (16 kilometers) to the edge of a local musher’s dog yard, Abby the brown-and-white mixed breed was found and returned to her owners, a family that includes two boys and one girl under the age of 10.

The dog that the family raised from an animal-shelter puppy went missing during a snowstorm on Dec. 13, and the family never expected to see her again, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.

“It’s a miracle, there’s no other words to describe it,” said McKenzie Grapengeter, emotion choking her voice and tears coming to her eyes. “We never expected to have her to be returned safe and alive.”

Musher and veterinarian Mark May said he came across the dog while running his team on Dec. 19, but didn’t stop to pick her up.

“It ran with us for about a mile on the way home before she fell off the pace, but I had a big dog team so I couldn’t grab it,” he said. “I said, `boy I hope it finds somebody’s house.”‘

The next day, the dog turned up at May’s house.

“Everybody just assumed it was some kind of scaredy-cat, but there it was in front of the door in our dog lot and it was blind,” May said. “It was sitting there, all the way from 14 mile on the winter trail down into this neighborhood, I guess by just sniffing, so I picked it up and brought it in.”

To May’s surprise, the dog had no signs of frostbite.

“No frozen ears, no frozen toes, she’ll probably go back home and it’ll (be) business as usual. She’s no worse for wear but quite an adventure,” he said.

The Grapengeter family hadn’t tagged or put a microchip in the dog, but the community used social media to track down Abby’s owners.

“We’re so, so grateful for all (the community’s) hard work,” McKenzie Grapengeter said. “They’ve given us the most amazing Christmas gift we could ever ask for.” (AP)



<관련 한글 기사>



혹한 속 실종된 눈먼 개, 주인찾아 ‘감동’

미국 알래스카에서 영하 40도의 혹한 속에 실종됐다가 10여일 만에 주인에게 돌아간 8살짜리 눈먼 개가 화제다.

이 개의 주인 가족은 지난 12월 13일 눈보라 속에서 개가 실종된 이후 사실상 희망을 버린 상태였다고 현지 언론 페어뱅크스데일리뉴스마이너가 보도했다.

주인인 맥켄지 씨는 인터뷰에서 “기적 같은 일이다. 기쁨을 말로 이루 다 표현하기 힘들다”며 “우리 가족 모두 개가 안전하게 살아 돌아올 것이라고 예상하지 못했다”며 기쁨을 표현했다.

이 개는 놀랍게도 동상의 흔적이 전혀 없는 것으로 알려졌다.

맥켄지 씨의 가족은 개에게 마이크로칩을 달거나 이름표를 붙이지 않았지만, 인근 주민들이 소셜미디어 등을 통해 추적활동을 펼친 끝에 무사히 찾아낼 수 있었던 것으로 알려졌다. (코리아헤럴드)