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Colorado law enforcement recently teamed up to help recover a lost dog and reunite it with its owners, bringing a happy ending to a seven-week ordeal.
Nova Riley, a 14-month-old Bernese mountain dog who had gone missing, was found near a trail in Meyer Ranch Park by two hikers on November 26.
Nova Riley had apparently slipped out of her harness and ran away in a Safeway parking lot nearly two months prior.
Miraculously, the injured pup was spotted by the hikers on the trail, located along U.S. 285, approximately three miles north of Conifer.
According to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s department, the hikers called police after Nova bit one of them in fear.
Open space rangers along with an animal control officer immediately responded to the call.
“They tried to make friends with the dog, but it was injured and scared. One of the hikers was bit while attempting to carry the wounded pet down the mountain. Despite that, they knew the pup needed help and they called us,” the department wrote.
One of the hikers stayed with Nova Riley while the injured hiker met three open space rangers and Animal Control Officer Kylie Rupe at the trailhead.
The hiker only sustained a minor injury and did not need stitches, Rupe said.
Nova Riley, a service dog in training to assist her disabled owner, Robynne Simons-Sealy, miraculously managed to survive two snowstorms and below-freezing weather during her time away.
Simons-Sealy, who tirelessly searched for her beloved canine companion, expressed the emotional toll of the ordeal.
“I was in tears every time it snowed,” she said.
Rupe, along with the rangers, hiked three miles to rescue Nova Riley, who was underweight and had a broken leg.
Recognizing the dog from lost dog posters, they quickly earned her trust with food. Describing the rescue, Rupe said: “She was very friendly but skittish.”
Nova Riley was then placed on a tarp and carefully carried down to the trailhead, where an emotional reunion took place between the dog and Simons-Sealy.
Despite Nova Riley’s broken leg and weight loss, the joy of seeing her owner again was evident.
“It was so beautiful and so heartwarming and the most wonderful sound of her realizing, ‘I’m safe, I’m OK,’” Simons-Sealy recounted.
The reunion was bittersweet as Nova Riley, now needing to have her broken leg amputated, can no longer fulfill her role as a service dog.
However, Simons-Sealy expressed gratitude for the community’s kindness, including the hikers, county staff, neighbors and community members who contributed to Nova Riley’s rescue and medical expenses.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, narrating the story, said it was a testament to the Thanksgiving spirit.
“’Of all the special things we choose to do for our planet, let one of them be of service to animals’—Paul Oxton,” the department wrote.
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