The dog survived Hurricane Jan after possibly spending as long as nine days in a van before being rescued by the police.
This was reported by the DeSato County Sheriff’s Office Facebook Oct. 6 that a “concerned resident of DeSato County” called the day before “about a dog that was on the roof of an RV.”
“The caravan was located in the community of River Akers, one of the many areas badly affected by the flooding. Fortunately, the DeSato County Sheriff’s Office was able to mobilize a boat and rescue the dog. The dog was turned over to DeSoto County Animal control where he now has access to water, food and shelter,” the office said.
The rescuers did not know how the dog could have reached such a height, as the area was covered with water up to chest level. McClatchy News reported.
About twenty inches of rain fell on Florida when Hurricane Ian made landfall on September 28, causing “camping trailers” to bob up and down “like corks in an oily sea of floodwater.” Reuters.
Wind gusts in excess of 140 mph (225 kph) were reported in some parts of the state.
The call from the police about the dog in the van came in more than a week later. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, the RV was still surrounded by knee-deep black water.
They climbed the ladder to the roof of the van, and then the dog was transferred to the boat. This was reported by representatives of the district McClatchy News that apart from the fact that the dog was thin, it was not injured.
The three- to four-year-old black-faced chicken-pit bull mix has regained some of its weight, officials added Tuesday.
Since none of the owners came to pick up the dog, McClatchy News informed that the animal remains at the shelter,
By Wednesday, the sheriff’s message about the dog’s rescue had garnered nearly 800 reactions and dozens of comments. Some were concerned that the dog’s owner may have been injured or evacuated and not yet returned.
Other Facebook users said it would have been easy to miss a dog hiding in a van in the middle of a chaotic situation like a hurricane.
“He must have been starving,” Diana Brusa said noted.
“I don’t understand how someone could just get up [and] to leave [their] dog behind. I’d be on that roof too if it were me.” — Cheryl Tyner wrote.
“There is such sadness all around. Animals starve, get lost, suffer. And it’s the same for a lot of people.” – Myra Cook added.
