A dog led search-and-rescue personnel to where its owner lay injured after the owner fell about 70 feet from a ridge near Tahoe National Forest in Nevada County, California.
The 53-year-old owner of the black border collie “Saul” was hiking in the area when he fell and broke his hip and ribs on the night of July 12.
After getting cellphone reception, the wounded hiker, whose name was not released by authorities, phoned first responders at noon the following day asking for help and notifying them of his broken bones, KCRA-TV reported.
After the man’s distress call, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection enlisted the help of the nonprofit Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue to locate and rescue the man, according to the news station.
At about 7 p.m. on July 13, the search-and-rescue team involving members of the Nevada County Sheriff’s group encountered Saul when they were looking for his owner, according to KCRA.
Seeing two searchers from the 25-strong team, the dog tried to signal to them that they should follow him to his owner.
“(Saul) was jumping up and down and spinning around in circles,” Sgt. Dennis Haack of the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office Search & Rescue told KCRA. “He took them right to the victim.”
“Hey, I think this dog is trying to lead us somewhere,” a volunteer said on the radio, Haack recalled, according to The New York Times.
Would your dog do the same if you were in such trouble?
“So we’re going to follow him,” the volunteer reportedly said at the time.
“We didn’t put a whole lot of faith in it,” Haack said. “But I do put a lot of faith in our searchers because they’re extremely good at what they do.”
After following the dog for about 200 yards, searchers found Saul’s owner lying in the dirt, covered in a camouflage tarp, the Times reported.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Haack said.
The man was taken by helicopter to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to the Times.
For his loyalty, the dog was rewarded with a “well deserved dinner,” Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue said.
A nonprofit in Grass Valley is taking care of Saul while his owner receives medical treatment, the Los Angeles Times reported.
According to its website, the Nevada County Sheriff’s Search & Rescue is a nonprofit composed of volunteers who include “local citizens that have the desire to help their neighbors and friends in a time of need.”
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