Drone Helps Rescue 'Miracle' Golden Retriever Who Was Missing for 3 Months in Colorado Countryside

Austin Cannon
·2 min read
officer from the Fremont, Colorado sheriff's department using a drone to search for missing golden retriever
officer from the Fremont, Colorado sheriff's department using a drone to search for missing golden retriever

Courtesy of Fremont County Sheriff's Office Colorado

After surviving in the Colorado wilderness alone for almost three months, Farrah the "miracle" golden retriever is back with her owner after a local sheriff's office located her with an airborne drone.

Farrah, 3, escaped after her car was in an accident on Highway 50 back in June, KOAA reported. She ran off.

The resulting daily search, led by Farrah's owner, Taylor Salazar, had limited success. Searchers would place food and scent stations along with water, but they couldn't catch her. The best they could do was see Farrah every so often—on security cameras or off in the distance.

The Fremont County Sheriff's Office then joined the search. On Sunday, its aircraft surveillance team sent out a drone outfitted with an infrared camera, KOAA reported. About 10 minutes later, they found Farrah.

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"When she realized that it was me, she ran to me. She hopped through a barbed-wire fence and later her head was in my lap," Salazar told the TV station.

Farrah was reunited with her owner after 82 days, but she was in awful shape. She only weighed about 55 pounds, a little more than half her healthy weight. One of her back legs was injured in the hip and knee area and will need to be amputated.

"The fact that she survived basically three months in the wilderness is a miracle," Salazar said.

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Salazar brought Farrah home when the golden was a puppy and her late husband was undergoing treatment for stage 4 stomach cancer. The dog provided a welcome distraction from his cancer fight.

"When we brought Farrah in, our house was happy again. She was our sunshine, and so when we lost her it was like, we can't, we can't have her go out this way," Salazar told KOAA.

Thankfully, she's now back with Farrah, who's still just as sweet while fighting through a little separation anxiety.