Dog Missing for 5 Days Miraculously Found Alive in a Snowbank

What was supposed to be a simple outing to clear snow away from their home, turned into a desperate search for a beloved dog for one Maine family. Albert Silver and his family were clearing snow from around their home and their dog, Sophie went out with them. But the 13-year-old dog wandered off and vanished.

Albert Silver and his family had searched everywhere that night but couldn’t find her. They called up animal control and neighbors and no one had seen her. They posted to Facebook the next day asking for help.

“We are missing our 13-year-old yellow lab named Sophie from Cushman Road in Bryant Pond,” Albert Silver wrote. “She went out with all of us last night just before 5pm while we were plowing and shoveling, and she wandered off and hasn’t come back. Please share…”

As the family continued to search, people in the community joined in to help too. They searched Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday but could find no trace of Sophie. With the freezing cold weather and days passing by, Albert says his family began to lose hope.

“We looked on foot and by snowmobile and by car,” Albert wrote to NEWS CENTER Maine. “We were pretty convinced that she had gone somewhere to die.”

But then Richard Austin was outside on Tuesday morning, just down the road from the Silver home when he saw Sophie’s head peeking out of the snow. The dog was completely buried and stuck in a snowbank – and in an area that the Silvers had already checked. Austin got out his tractor and plowed a path to the dog to rescue her and the Silvers were contacted and took her to the vet right away.

Albert wrote an update on Facebook saying, “She went to the vets immediately and is ok. No frostbite, lost 5 pounds, hungry and tired. Blood work and X-rays all showed a healthy girl. This is truly a miracle and our prayers were definitely answered.”

He thanked everyone who shared, commented and cared to help. It was truly a miracle that Sophie survived, and in large part to the community pitching in to help find her.

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