Reunited and it feels so good.
The nine-week-long search for a Colorado woman’s missing seizure-alert service dog finally came to an end Wednesday night when the Heidi was found in the Bruceton Mills area.
Heidi went missing after she ran from a car accident May 21 on Route 43. Since then, Heidi had been spotted in several locations, both in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The distance covered made it difficult to pinpoint a location to search.
The dog had been seen from Rich Farms in Fairchance, Pa., to Bruceton Mills, where she was found, and everywhere in between.
Several individuals and rescue groups had been assisting Heidi’s owner, Bridget Spangler, over the past two months with everything from lodging and airfare to helping her post fliers, set up feeding stations and even search the area with drones.
Spangler said Thursday, she was in disbelief when a local postal worker who was familiar with her story recognized a German shepherd mix hiding under her neighbors’ house earlier this week and contacted her.
The neighbors who found Heidi, who did not wish to be identified, were able to hold her in a shed until Spangler was able to go identify her. Her initial finders were not aware she was a missing dog until the postal worker told them.
Charlotte Mountcastle, from You Will Be Found Lost Dogs by Wild Angels K9, has been staying with Spangler and assisting her in the search.
She said when they went to get Heidi, the dog started crying in the shed as soon as she heard Spangler’s voice.
“When she saw her and it sunk in — it was like she couldn’t believe it — that’s my mom!”
There is no one thing that Spangler could pinpoint that brought Heidi home.
“It was a collaborative effort from a lot of resources,” she said. “It was the news coverage, it was doing fliers, it was pounding the pavement, it was everything.”
Spangler said she never gave up hope she would be reunited with the dog that has saved her life on two occasions, and felt it was “by the grace of God” that she was found.
Overall, Heidi’s owner said she was in pretty good condition, considering the length of time she was on her own.
When Heidi was found, the collar she had been wearing had become really loose on her neck — likely due to her losing approximately 25 pounds. One of Heidi’s front legs somehow came through the collar, leaving it stuck under her leg, but still around her neck.
The collar, which still held Heidi’s Larimer County, Colo., rabies tag, had to be cut off of her, revealing rope-burn-type injuries it caused, due to the awkward positioning.
Spangler said Heidi was immediately treated for her injuries at North Central West Virginia Emergency Vet Clinic in Fairmont and is beginning to heal now that she is safe again.
Heidi and Spangler don’t have a set date to return to their home in Colorado, but hope to leave in a few days “after all the people who have helped find her get a chance to meet her,” Spangler said.
For now, Spangler said she is in disbelief that the ordeal is finally over, but overjoyed to have Heidi back at her side.
Spangler said Heidi’s next adventure will be a nice long bath. You can see Heidi and Spangler’s reuniting video and other photographs of the duo on the Facebook page set up for her search, Bring Heidi Home.
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