Dog Found (and saved): Mt. Bierstadt!

[djkest]

Hi all,

I am the owner of the German Shepard girl found on Mt. Bierstadt.

First off, I am glad to hear that you and your companion are safe.

However, (as you now know) you made some huge mistakes. The terrain was too rugged for your dog. When you are lowering your dog with a rope and harness, your dog shouldn't be there.

I am not a dog person, but I understand that dogs are family. I would never leave my family behind. I would go to the ends of the earth to keep my family and close friends safe. I am amazed you didn't go back up there to rescue her. It appears you are using this opporitunity to learn a valuable lesson.

I don't have an opionion on wether or not you should get your dog back- I'll leave that to others.

[Navigaiter]

Dogs will follow their humans to their death, that's the kind of loyalty a dog has. What an example to live by.
They form lifelong bonds with their humans.
Her life is in your hands.
Man's best friend. No truer statement.

It is INCOMPREHENSIBLE and IMHO, unforgiveable that you did not post signs at the trailheads (Guanella Pass and Mt Evans - I looked for signs yesterday personally), you did not go look for her, you did not go to her side when she was hurt to provide food and water so she could survive until you could get help to get her out.
You did not try to get her out yourself.
You are clearly not her best friend. You do not have her best interests at heart.

You did nothing.

Strangers took compassion on her helpless state and did what it took to get her out of the mess you put her in.

You show up after everybody did for you what you should have done over 1 week ago.

I cannot see putting this dog back in your care.

+1

The more I think about all the things that weren't done to rescue her before the good people of 14ers.com got involved, the more I hope against hope that she is never allowed to go back to those who abandoned her.

[its_not_a_tuba]

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.

[SolarAlex]

so you leave the dog for 8 days, dont do anything, dont try to go back with friends to get her, nada. just leave her there to die a slow, miserable death. seems reasonable.

now you want the dog back...after all the effort we went through to get the dog off the mountain, i dont think i can support giving her back to you. sorry, but i would hate to see this dog go back to someone who so callously left her on the side of the mountain and then did NOTHING for over a week.

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

[denvergator]

For those who didn't see the story on 9news last night, here's the link

http://www.9news.com/news/sidetracks/28 ... -from-14er" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


All you folks who went up to save Missy are amazing. Thank you for what you did.

[its_not_a_tuba]

aortolani14 - I hope you and your friend are young - because only a childish level of youthful denial and immaturity could possibly explain your actions. I also hope you have a lot of room to grow into a responsible person. I suspect that this experience will help with that quite a bit.

[I fall a lot]

Is anyone else having a tough time understanding this? I understand why you would need to leave the mountain without your dog that day, to save yourself. But there is just one fact to this whole story that I just can't wrap my finger around. As a dog lover myself, who has hiked many 14ers with my dog, I just can't figure this out: Why in the world were you not up there, the next morning looking for your dog!? I CAN understand the panic in that suituation, and how rational thought might be affected that day. But that just does not explain why you did not go back for your dog. It took a group of amazing people, who had never met or loved your dog, to put their own well-being at risk to save your dog. That just does not sound right to me, at all.

But most of all, I am just happy the dog is okay now!

Pretty much my opinion too. Can't understand it....unless the guilt of leaving Missy was just too overwhelming and it's just easier to put your head in the sand.

I have no right to say who should keep the dog, but hearing that the dog and rescuers are safe is great news!!

[djkest]

The only (somewhat) reasonable explanation I can come up with is that he thought his dog was already dead (which he mentioned)... hence didn't try to make a rescue later.

edit: added the word somewhat.

[tbaileymd]

It takes guts to stand up in the bright glare of one's mistakes, poor decisions, and catastrophic failures.

It sounds like the owner met up with the same resistance from law enforcement and rescue personnel that others on here did. But still-- to have not gone back up with food, water, and at least a blanket for the dog? I don't get it.

At least Missy is safe and on the mend. I don't doubt the owner's remorse. I don't doubt that he will never let this happen again. And the dog will want her human back-- that's just their nature. Still-- there's some vital piece of the owner's awareness or sense of responsibility that was missing when his dog needed it most. Her survival hinged on him not wallowing in helplessness about the whole thing, and instead making something happen. Improbably, dumb luck and the heroic effort of strangers ended up saving her a week later instead.

[21kmiller]

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!! =) =)

[evepin]

so you leave the dog for 8 days, dont do anything, dont try to go back with friends to get her, nada. just leave her there to die a slow, miserable death. seems reasonable.

now you want the dog back...after all the effort we went through to get the dog off the mountain, i dont think i can support giving her back to you. sorry, but i would hate to see this dog go back to someone who so callously left her on the side of the mountain and then did NOTHING for over a week.

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

To abandon an injured dog in these conditions, and not even go back to look for her, is animal abuse - aside from the lashing from this group, aortolani14 would be lucky if he isn't formally charged with abuse and reckless endangerment. Someone in this group can surely provide Missy with a better home and partner.

[thetoddman]

Let’s reserve judgment on the owner until we know what happened. It’s conceivable she was with a family who drove up Mt Evans, chased a marmot and got lost. If they weren’t climbers they wouldn’t know about 14ers.com but perhaps tried other ways to publicize. They could have contacted who they thought were the proper authorities. Think of the prolifera of overlapping and multiple jurisdictions we have in even a single county. A lost dog isn’t going to be the highest priority to some of them as was eluded to early in this thread. A found dog and a lost dog report might not get matched up if either of them languished on the wrong desk. There could be a kid crying himself to sleep tonight not knowing his best friend is now safe.

I'm glad you said this, because it makes good sense. I can't come up with another explanation that doesn't break my heart.

That being said, when I encountered her and the two men with her, they were a long way from what I would consider dog-friendly terrain (the top of Bierstadt .) It took me an hour (of albeit disorganized climbing) to get down to where I met them. It would have been a hell of a ramble for a dog chasing after a critter to be all the way down there if she bolted from the top. If they were hiking that with her: shame.

I think that they were over their head and made a terrible decision to leave her. I certainly would have helped them out had I detected a problem, or had they asked. It was enough work getting my own butt out of there. Carrying an exhausted, large dog would be brutal.

Why two people would together choose to leave her, I cannot understand. One person, maybe. But two? That seems double-cruel. I really hope there is a good explanation.

It is also worth noting that the 'owner' and his friend were still within conversational earshot of a third hiker when they decided to abandon Missy. hvolmer in an earlier post said he heard them say they were gonna bail off the sawtooth and the 'owner' used the same description in describing their decision point. So there were at least three humans in the area at the time.

I was the first to suggest in this thread that it might not be a good idea to seek out such an irresponsible dog owner (based on hvolmers posts up to that time) and I've not heard much to change my mind. ALL of the decisions and facts (before, during, and after the decision to abandon her) point to this for me.