Heartwarming rescue (Video)

Meet Sage, an elderly blind Labrador (12-year-old) who lost her eyesight due to glaucoma. Last week, she disappeared from her family home. She’d spent some time out in the garden, and her family thought they’d brought her back into the house with them. An hour later, they noticed they’d accidentally left her outside. They went outside to bring Sage back indoors, and she was gone. They searched the area and couldn’t find her. They were, understandably, completely distraught. One of her owners, Beth Cole, told: ‘Ten of our neighbors joined our family in the search that lasted until late that night. Then they came back to help for several days after that.’

After days of searching, they had nearly given up. After seven days, they assumed that Sage was likely dead. But they kept searching, putting up fliers and posting on social media to try to track down their beloved dog. Just as the family was accepting that they’d lost Sage forever, something wonderful happened. One of their neighbors, Dan Estrada, was hiking in the forest with his two dogs, Barnabas and Koelsch. Fifteen minutes into the hike, he spotted something next to a stream at the base of a steep slope. He headed down to investigate, thinking it was an abandoned rubbish bag. Instead, he found Sage. As Dan prepared to have to break the news to Sage’s family (Sage wasn’t moving, so Dan assumed she was dead), his friend noticed something: her head had moved!

She survived on her own out in the woods

He jumped into the stream and charged towards her, petting her and giving her a hug to provide her with some much-needed comfort. But she’d survived, all on her own out in the woods. Dan picked up Sage and carried her home, where her family were overjoyed to finally be reunited with their pooch. They’d offered a reward for whoever found her, but Dan refused the money, asking for it to be donated to an animal rescue organisation instead. Today, Sage is happy, healthy, and enjoying being back home with her family. The family will hold a celebration for her return in a local bar to raise money for a local animal shelter. Well done to Dan for being a hero. And bravo to Sage for being a very, very good dog. Watch the video of her rescue, a very emotional moment!