In July, one of our employees and her dog (adopted from Second Chance Humane Society) were instrumental in saving a life.
An elderly woman went missing from her home on Simms Mesa. She may have been trying to walk to Montrose. (Read the story here.) Her son reported her missing, estimating that she left home at 1 pm on Friday, July 11.
Christine Furrey is the Community Outreach Supervisor at Second Chance. She routinely takes her four-year-old heeler mix, Nora, out to explore the trails and canyons on public lands southeast of Montrose. Early Sunday morning, July 13, they went out for an adventure to beat the expected heat later in the day.
Nora took off down a draw, then came back to Christine. She put herself into Christine’s path and would not move. Being an experienced dog person, Christine read this action as, “Hey, I need to show you something!” She also checked Nora’s GPS locations, seeing that she had stopped for a few minutes before coming back.
As they started back in the direction where Nora had been, Christine heard an unusual sound. Not sure if it was human or animal, she proceeded carefully toward it. There, they found the missing woman, disoriented, dehydrated, and in distress.
Christine called 911 from her phone and waited for them to arrive. Despite the call dropping several times, she was able to communicate with them to find the location. The missing woman was transported to the hospital.
