Watch the Emotional Reaction as Lost Goldendoodle Reunites With Young Owner After 5 Days Alone in the Woods
“See him straight ahead? That’s Frank,” says the voice of a member of the Reaves Recovery and Rescue team (a Cincinnati, Ohio-based lost pet recovery service) pointing into a wooded, brush-covered area. A young girl rushes towards the undergrowth, anxiously peering through the branches and leaves. (Watch Video Below)
“Frank! Oh my god!” she exclaims, instantly bursting into tears as she dashes into the wooded area. “I’m so sorry!”
@reavesrecoveryrescue young girl reunite with her dog that was missing for 5 days thanks to thermal drone
♬ original sound – Reaves Recovery and Rescue
Frank is a four-year-old Goldendoodle who had spent the past five nights outside and alone. Frank had been startled by a loud noise while on a walk with his young owner and managed to yank his retractable leash out of her hand before dashing away trailing the leash. His owners searched for four days, but with no luck in their efforts and rain storms threatening the area they reached out to Reaves Recovery and Rescue for help.
Frank isn’t only a pet, he’s his young owner’s emotional support animal, and reuniting them was of the utmost importance.
The team from Reaves Recovery and Rescue started the very next morning by launching thermal drones in the area where Frank was lost. Thermal drones are equipped with cameras and sensors that detect heat, helping to distinguish living creatures from surrounding brush, plants, and debris. Within 10 minutes of the first drone launch, Reaves Recovery and Rescue spotted a little red dot in a small patch of woods. Directing the drone to move closer, the rescuers were stunned to find Frank, a little wet from the previous night’s rain, but otherwise looking unharmed.
Sweet little Frank had gotten tangled up in the woods thanks to the leash he was still wearing, so he hadn’t managed to run far. Relatively close to where he had run away, finding Frank in the wooded area would have been immensely difficult without the thermal drones. Even with the thermal drones, he blended in so well that it was hard to tell it was him at first.
@reavesrecoveryrescue Frank giving kisses after being stuck in the woods for 5 days
♬ original sound – Reaves Recovery and Rescue
Not an eye was dry as Frank and his young owner reunited, and you can tell just how overjoyed Frank was to finally be back with his people. After five days in the woods, all Frank wanted to do was give his owner kisses and let her know it was all going to be okay!
How Rescuers Locate Missing Dogs & Other Pets
Using thermal drones is a relatively new method of locating lost or missing pets and has proven especially effective for searching rural, inaccessible, or particularly large areas. But it’s not just high-tech solutions that help find missing pets—search and rescue teams rely on tons of tools, tricks, and tried-and-true methods to locate and catch their ‘targets.’
The longer a pet has been missing the more difficult it becomes to locate and catch them, which is why rescuers have to get creative if they want success. Rescuers often place and monitor trail cameras, set traps using bait, use temporary fencing to restrict a search area, employ search and rescue canines, and much more in their efforts to find missing animals.
