After 53 days in Nevada desert, dog reunited with owner

Barbara Bagley's Shetland sheepdog, Dooley, survived by eating road kill for 53 days in Nevada after a car accident. The dog is now part of his owner's healing process.

|
(AP Photo/Shannon Sustacha)
Barbara Bagley and her Shetland sheepdog Dooley after the two were reunited near Battle Mountain, Nev. Bagley says she never gave up hope that her dog would be found alive after the animal bolted from the scene of an auto crash.

Barbara Bagley says she never gave up hope that her dog would be found alive in the Nevada desert after the animal bolted from the scene of a crash that critically injured her and killed her husband.

But the Salt Lake City woman endured plenty of frustration until her beloved 4-year-old Shetland sheepdog, Dooley, was tracked down Feb. 18 after surviving 53 days in the wild on roadkill and scattered ranch water sources.

"I would think about Dooley constantly," she said. "There were TV commercials with dogs that made me think about him and cry. He's just the sweetest dog."

IN PICTURES: Daring dogs

The Dec. 27 single-vehicle accident on Interstate 80 near Battle Mountain, about 225 miles (360 kilometers) east of Reno, sent Bagley and her 55-year-old husband, Brad Vom Baur, to the hospital in critical condition. Their other sheltie, Delaney, was killed in the wreck. Dooley ran away and vanished.

As soon as she had recovered enough from her injuries, Bagley turned her attention to a search for her dog in the sprawling sage-covered plains and hills of northeastern Nevada.

Realizing what Dooley could mean for her recovery, dozens of Nevada volunteers responded to a Facebook plea for help in looking for him. But the search was canceled before it began after the Jan. 6 discovery of what appeared to be the dog's remains along the interstate. The same day, her husband died.

"It was a horrible day for me," Bagley recalled. "But something inside me told me Dooley was still alive out there. I wasn't 100 percent sure, but I didn't grieve for Dooley like I did for my husband and our other dog."

More than three weeks later, Bagley's spirits were buoyed after a woman reported spotting "a Lassie-type" dog near the accident scene. A subsequent search joined by Bagley turned up nothing, but a railroad crew spotted a dog matching the same description in mid-February in the same area about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Battle Mountain.

Further searches netted a positive identification of Dooley but frustration as well because the skittish dog kept fleeing from Bagley and other searchers. Finally, Shannon Sustacha of Lamoille, who was on horseback, and a Bagley friend driving a Jeep cornered Dooley only five miles (eight kilometers) from the crash scene. The friend managed to nab the sheltie and put him in the Jeep.

An ecstatic, tearful Bagley arrived at the scene a short time later.

"Barbara got next to us and said three times, 'You think he'll remember me?'" Sustacha said. "When Barbara opened the door and looked at him, she said, 'My beautiful boy, my beautiful boy, you're home.' Oh, boy, all of us cried. I knew his adventure in Nevada was over. I also knew he and Barbara could start healing together."

A short time later, an exhausted Dooley sat on his owner's lap in the Jeep and fell asleep. He later began following Bagley around.

"I was overjoyed that I was going to have him back in my life. I think he felt the same about me," she said.

During his ordeal, Dooley's weight dropped from 44 pounds (20 kilograms) to 20 pounds (nine kilograms). He was once spotted devouring a dead coyote along the roadway. A long bird bone was pulled from his throat by a veterinarian.

Since then, the dog has gradually put on weight and resumed regular walks with his owner. While Bagley is still going through the grieving process over her husband's death and recovering from her injuries, Dooley's presence has picked up her spirits immensely.

"He's the physical and mental affection that I need to recover," she said. "I owe him so much for the hope I have now and the renewed faith I have in prayer. Dogs are so great because of their unconditional love."

IN PICTURES: Daring dogs

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to After 53 days in Nevada desert, dog reunited with owner
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0305/After-53-days-in-Nevada-desert-dog-reunited-with-owner
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe