14-year-old dog found nearly frozen to death in ditch reunited with owner

ARROWSIC, Maine (Gray News) – A 14-year-old dog in Maine who nearly froze to death was reunited with her owner after an amazing rescue from a deputy.

According to the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a call about a dog lying in the road in the town of Arrowsic on Saturday morning, and temperatures were in the single digits. When Deputy Mark Anderson responded to investigate, the dog was nowhere to be found.

Anderson began searching the area, and he found a “very cold female dog, appearing almost frozen to death” in a ditch, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office.

The deputy noticed there were claw marks where the dog had attempted to climb out of the ditch before her paw got too cold. The sheriff’s office said the dog was also holding her paw up and whimpering as Anderson approached her.

Anderson was able to get the dog out of the ditch and into his police cruiser. He then brought her to the dispatch center. The dog was bundled up in blankets and placed next to a space heater to warm up.

“They fixed her a plate of food and once she warmed up and stopped shivering, she ate the plate clean,” the sheriff’s office said.

Anderson went to work on making lost dog flyers and also returned to the area to knock on doors in an attempt to find the dog’s owner. It wasn’t long before he found her.

The owner, who the sheriff described as an “elderly female,” said her 14-year-old dog was let outside around 9 p.m. the night before. When the dog didn’t return, the woman stayed up all night waiting for her pet.

Fortunately, the dog was safely returned to her owner.

“A huge shout out to Communications Specialist Shaun and Dori, as well as Deputy Anderson, for providing extraordinary care for this animal,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “The efforts of these three Sagadahoc County employees, without a doubt, saved the life of this precious pet.”

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