The rescue started after two hikers found the injured pup on a hiking trail at Meyer Ranch Park and reported the sighting to animal control
Nova the dog experienced a Thanksgiving miracle. She was rescued from a Colorado mountain and brought back home after two months alone in the wilderness.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office shared on social media that the canine was safely brought down from the mountains in Meyer Ranch Park after two hikers found the pooch “injured and scared” while on a park trail.
Officials said animal control officers responded to the scene on Nov. 19 after the hikers reported a dog bite in Meyer Ranch Park. The hikers told animal control officers that they had found the dog with “no owner in sight” while heading up the trail, adding that they “tried to befriend” the dog and carry the wounded pet down the mountain, but the dog bit one of them.
“Despite that, they knew the pup needed help, and they called us,” the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office wrote.
Officials said one hiker watched the dog while the other came down the mountain to seek medical help and show rescuers where the animal was located. A photo shared by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office shows the dog lying down, curled up behind tree branches on rocky ground.
Jefferson County rangers and animal control officers were able to secure the dog and carefully carry Nova to the base of the mountain. In one photo officials shared, Nova wears a black muzzle and looks off into the distance while wrapped up in a blanket. Several rescuers surround the pup so that they can carry her together.
After completing the tricky task of moving the dog off the mountain, rescuers went to work locating the pet’s owner. Thankfully, they had a solid lead.
“As luck would have it, a ranger remembered a lost dog poster posted in the park over a month ago,” the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said. “JCSO Animal Control called the owner to arrange a meet-up at the trailhead.”
Nova’s relieved owner met the dog at the bottom of the trail shortly after the canine’s mountain rescue. The pet parent told officials that Nova had been missing for two months before the hikers found her. According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Nova suffered a broken leg during her time away from her family but is now “resting comfortably at home and awaiting possible surgery.”
The agency added on social media that it shared Nova’s rescue story ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday as a sign of gratitude “for the acts of kindness shown to a lost pet.”