Dog Found (and saved): Mt. Bierstadt!

[AndYouSeeMe]

Hey 14er friends! My name is Kristen and I know the owner to this precious dog that was found over the weekend on Bierstadt/Evans trail... her name is Missy and I am good friends with her owner, Anthony Ortolani. I have know him for longer than 10 years and have known Missy since she was just a puppy!! Anthony was devestated when he called me to tell me he had to make a life or death decision when he went hiking with a friend and got caught in a storm. Anthony, his friend and Missy took a couple falls and tried their very best to get Missy down. Being hurt after their fall, they tried to carry Missy down and lower her with rope, it came time that things were getting bad with injuries and weather and he had no choice at that particular moment but to make the worst decision ANY dog owner would have to make. He called me immediately when he got down the mountain and told me what happened, he tried to call every search and rescue pleading to go back up and get her and they wouldnt help. He himself was in bad shape with blisters all over his feet not being able to walk for a few days, he did not think that Missy would still be alive after a few days up there let alone a week later! It truly is miracle and I am pleading with everyone here to let her get back to to her home!! With her loving caring owner, Anthony!

Anthony was not a rookie at 14ers and neither was Missy, they have done 6 here in CO together and all of them were succcessful!! She is off leash trained and really is a wonderful dog! I really hope everyone on here can find it in their heart to return Missy to Anthony where she belongs! If anyone would like to discuss this with me I wil be more than happy to talk to you 303-501-6113 Thank you to the amazing hikers that found Missy and organized the group to get her down, words cannot express the gratefulness I feel for that group, for Missy, and for Anthony... now can we all work together to get her back home!! =) =)

So blisters on his feet gave him the right to just give up on his dog? And blisters on his feet stopped him from having his friends go up and find Missy? Blisters on his feet stopped him from driving to the TH and asking other hikers to keep an eye out or put up flyers? When the 14ers.com group contacted SAR, if he had already contacted them, then why didn't SAR put the 14ers.com group in touch with Anthony? His explanation seems very fishy and quite frankly I don't think you got the real story from him. Maybe I am way off base here, but blisters seem like a lame excuse and I don't feel he should get his dog back since he had given up on the dog so easily and seemingly didn't try very hard and left her for dead.

[Leigh]

i could forgive you leaving the dog bc of weather or inability to move her, but why didnt you go back with your friends? why did you do nothing? just abandoning her is unforgivable

Agreed. The owner walked away and never looked back.

I foster dogs while they wait for adoption so I've seen a few bounced from home to home - it takes a while, but they warm up to their new surroundings - dogs just want someone to love them and look out for them. Missy will eventually settle in with her new owners and never look back.

[EatinHardtack]

And Missy had cuts on her feet as well. I've had blisters and for my dog I'd at least go back and try.

I feel that the owner should spend 8 days and nights on the sawtooth himself without water, food, shelter. Then I would advocate that he has earned a slight chance to get her back. Sorry but the owner left her for dead. I would not have, even in pain I would have found friends, searched for help, posted signs, something.

[wildlobo71]

I'm torn. I feel for you and your situation as it unfolded; like a few have said here - in the situation of a house fire or some other such event, a decision may have to be made internally (in your mind) to survive the situation, hopefully the animal can find it's way out but essentially it's an "each to their own abilities" scenario. It's not a nice thought, and tears you up inside, but it happens.

That's where my sympathy ends... when you left it in the hands of strangers to resolve your problem while you essentially wiped your hands of the situation and concluded with an "oh well." The real frustrating thing for me is the dog will not comprehend that you abandoned her, left her for dead. The next time she sees you she'll react with excitement never knowing that for 7-8 days you were already into planning the next part of your life without her.

I'm no longer torn, just disgusted.

[evepin]

I can't believe that poor dog was up there for a week. That is just heartbreaking. What is even worse is how many people hiked right by this poor animal, saw her and took no action? Obviously there had to be a lot, she could not have lived that long without support from passers by.

I was involved this spring in a dog search and rescue in the Eagle wilderness area - the dog was found alive 13 days later, dehydrated and 20 lbs lighter, but otherwise fine. It's amazing what dogs can do - they have an amazing will to live and keen survival skills.

[Built-to-Last]

If either of my dogs had to be left on the mountain for whatever reason, I would go back everyday to find my dogs, they are part of my family and the thought of them dying alone, cold, hungry on the side of the mountain is almost to difficult to even think about. I just dont understand.

[speth]

Thread saved, renamed "Can my dog handle the class three ridge on Mt ________?"

This whole story is curious. Seems like the timeline runs something like;

Hiking Sawtooth with friend and dog.
Weather moves in, dog is injured, abandon attempt and leave dog.
Make it back to civilization, call authorities and SAR for pet.
SAR declines rescue operation for pet.
Leave dog to its fate.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Collect dog.

Why come back now and plead the story trying to get the dog back? Wouldn't it have been easier to just fade away and let the rescuers adopt or foster the dog? Seems like a lot of face saving, were they going to track down who owns the dog from the shots tags registration?

[21kmiller]

While I understand everyones concern on here about Missy and her owner, Anthony being irrisponsible... it is also understandable of the decision he had to make. No normal person would just leave their dog without trying everything they could in that particular moment, under those circumstances and mental state. I have known Anthony for many many years and he is not one to just give up without trying. I know that he feels horrible for what happened and probably will for a long time but also I know that becuase this happened he has learned a tremendous amount about the 14er experiences with dogs, as I mentioned in another post it wasnt his first time, it just turned out to be a really crappy, dangerous trip that unfortunately led to this. I am so grateful for the hikers that found her and I really would just love to see Missy re-united with Anthony! Can we help get them back together... she needs her human and Anthony is definitely her human!! Despite the situation the love between a dog and human is purely unconditional and I can tell you first hand Anthony did try everything he could under the mental state he was in and he has been feeling nothing but guilt since, now is feeling purely humbled and grateful that she is alive! It truly is a miracle!! Lets continue the miracle to a purely happy ending and re-uniting Missy with Anthony!! Please and thank you!! =)

To answer some questions everyone has... Anthony is 29, and from what I understand the storm and rocky terrain was not super dog friendly, after all of them falling a few times and getting hurt it was just one of those crappy situations that at the time he felt he needed to make a decsion. Yes Anthony had blisters but not just normal blisters, his body was not in good shape mentally and physically from the storm and overall hike, him and his friend could barely walk down the mountain and they did take turns carrying her over their shoulders and lower her down with rope... I know they tried everything they could in that sitation. I understand that many of you think it was just a quick decision for him to leave Missy... I can tell you that Anthony would NOT just leave her without trying everything he could while being hurt and trying to survive himself and his friend. Yes it was a mistake to not post flyers or try to reach out a little more but being fairly new to the 14er thing I think many can agree that it was simply a bad trip and hike that made a turn for the worse. I am a huge dog lover as well and was heart broken when I found about what happened, Missy has been a huge part of my life as well as Anthony's and his little girl. I hope that we can all understand the situation both ways in that certain things were a mistake and certain things that happened were simply survival mode kicking in and last minute judgement calls for himself to stay alive. I am pleading with everyone on here to try and understand this was not something he blatenly did, Anthony is just not that kind of person! I am pleading to help get Missy back to her home with her family!! While dogs may re-adjust to new surroundings.... it still is not the same as their original home! Having Missy alive and Anthony not being able to get her back is more heart renching than anything I can imagine. Please Please take this into consideration and help me get Missy back home!!

[MattK]

With her loving caring owner, Anthony!

Yea one that was so caring that they left their dog to die. Jezzuz you even admitted that you thought she would live for a few days. Why not do something about it in those few days? Pathetic.

Oh boo hoo...blisters. Goodness and the dog was laying there bloody, tired, injured, scared, hungry, thirsty....alone....but my blisters!!! Man at first I was a bit sympathetic to the owner's plight, but stewing on it this morning, no way do you deserve this beautiful dog. You'd already given up on her and therefore have come to terms with not having her in your life, so therefore you shouldn't. It sounds like there are some people involved in the rescue that may want her. They deserve her and she deserves them.

[lpyle]

I checked the forums here to see if there was any news and I Googled "Dog found on Bierstadt" for a few days after, but I didn't see anything. I wish I would've posted something. Now I am just glad someone else did.

If you had googled "Dog found on Bierstadt" this past Sunday, you would have found this thread. But apparently you had moved on to other things.

I think the bottom line is that the right course of action here is whatever is the right thing for Missy. She deserves an owner and family who will not give up on her so easily.

[LuLuLuv]

What I don't understand is why Anthony just joined this website today. He obviously knew about it because he claimed to have checked the forum. Why did he not post that Missy was missing? With a great community such as this, he could have gotten help for her immediately. Remember Dexter? His owner posted early that evening and there was a team up there the next day looking for him. It has been OVER A WEEK since he left her up there and he just joins today?? I don't get it at all!!

[BillMiddlebrook]

I urge everyone to focus on the good part of this story - this sweet dog was saved by very caring people. The owner has to live with his mistakes and I don't think piling on will make the situation any better.

I hope this thread will serve as a reminder to those thinking of bringing a dog on anything more than a walk-up: You should be able to carry down anything you bring up the mountain.