SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS, Calif. (CBS)
Buc seen shortly after his rescue.
Terina Held/CBS
A very strong-willed dog has returned to its owner after surviving 40 days in the freezing wilderness of the Santa Cruz Mountains, CBS station KPIX-TV reports.
Buck, a black lab, got lost near his home Jan. 6. Owner Terina Held thought he got swept up in a swollen river during a rain storm. Flyers went up and calls were made to shelters, but Held gave up after five weeks of searching.
"We figured he was probably dead or what not. Or someone fell in love with him and (they) weren't going to give him back," Held recalled.
But the story changed on Feb. 16 when neighbor Mark Smith took the day off to go hiking on his birthday. Smith and his dog Copper heard whimpering and found the weak, emaciated black lab stranded on a patch of dry river bed not far from where Buck went missing.
Smith scooped him up, waded 200 yards through an ice-cold creek, and carried Buck to safety.
"I would think that anybody who loves animals and was walking and seeing what I saw probably wouldn't have hesitated to do what I did," said Smith.
Buck lost 50 pounds as he lay in the cold without food for more than a month. Held is relieved to have her companion back at home.
"I know he knows that we love him, and maybe he didn't want to leave us hanging dry," said Held. "Maybe he wanted to make sure to give us more love before his dying day."
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