“He’s old, half-blind, thin, decrepit, walks stiffly and can’t hear well either. He weighs less than seven pounds and has a heart condition. We looked for three days and couldn’t find him.”
DISPUTANTA — A 17-year-old dog, partially blind and deaf, went missing for three nights in a rural area of Disputanta. His family was worried sick. Desperate to find him, they sought tracking experts to search for Dally, a Pomchi, a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix.
Tereasa Jackson describes her pet, “He’s old, half-blind, thin, decrepit, walks stiffly and can’t hear well either. He weighs less than seven pounds and has a heart condition. I had just bought him a puffy, nylon jacket, and luckily, he had that on. Thank the Lord.”
Dally went missing for the first time ever on Sunday, Dec. 15. The family was merrily decorating the Christmas tree one minute and frantically seeking a loved one in the woods the next.
“We usually let him out back where there’s a little fence and stand out with him until he goes potty, but, on that particular night, my 16-year-old grandson let him out the front. Being a teenager, he lost sight of him, and it was pitch black out there. We got the flashlights, and we looked and we looked and we looked for three days and couldn’t find him,” Jackson said. “There was no reason to believe that my grandson wouldn’t watch him because he always has.”
Desperate, Jackson sought the assistance of a professional pet tracker who uses a dog, but the company was not available until Friday, days after Dally’s disappearance.
“He would have been dead by then. She suggested that we spray a mixture of chicken broth with hickory smoke sauce for Dally to smell to lead him home,” Jackson said. “My daughter and I looked in the woods for three days and sprayed the meat scent.”
According to Jackson, a couple of the nights Dally was lost, a light drizzle of rain came down. It was chilly and in the high 30s at night.
Maddy Coggin of Waverly saw Jackson’s post on Facebook about Dally being lost and referred her to Jut Updyke, an infrared drone operator who owns Captured Media.
“I called him on Wednesday. He was in Williamsburg and got to our place a little after noon to set up the drone,” Jackson said. “It only took him about 30 or 45 minutes to find him. It was a miracle. It was wonderful. It was amazing.”
“He was about 760 yards as the crow flies,” Updyke said.
“He went straight across my yard, straight across my neighbor’s yard and to the power line easement. I don’t know how long it took him to do that, but he was just laying down. We thought he was gone,” Jackson said.
Drone finds missing 17-year-old dog
The search conditions were favorable in Prince George County on the day Jarvis the drone saved Dally. Updyke named his drone after the fictional character in the “Iron Man” movies. J.A.R.V.I.S. is said to be an acronym for — Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.
“It was overcast and cool, so the thermals were sticking out like crazy. It was a perfect storm for somebody to find that dog. I don’t think he had another night in him,” Updyke said.
According to Updyke, a coyote was the closest animal to Jackson’s home that Jarvis spotted.
“I was doing my loop the way that I search, and I saw a circle about the size of a rabbit. I hit the zoom button, and there he was laying there with his little jacket on. He was motionless, I didn’t know if he was alive or if he had passed. They scooped him up, and luckily it all worked out.”
“I don’t think he could have gone any further. He was worn out,” Jackson said.
Jackson stated she paid Updyke $425 for the mission not by the hour. She said she was grateful for not having to wonder what had happened to Dally.
“It was chicken feed. The other place was over $1,000,” Jackson shared. “I don’t know where I would have come up with that, but we were doing all that we could. If I had to, I probably would have borrowed it.”
Jackson was shocked her canine companion survived that long. An extremely worn out Dally was taken straight to the vet.
“She said he was pretty good for what he went through for as little as he is and without food and water. He was really thirsty when we got him back,” Jackson said. “With his heart condition, he could go at any time. I just hold him a lot, and I’m thankful to have him back.”
Updyke is also hired by hunters to locate their harvest. “I make someone’s day when I find a great big buck or a child’s first deer, but these searches are full of emotion. It’s not just a dog, it’s a family member,” Updyke shared. “They would give anything to have them back home.”
Kristi K. Higgins aka The Social Butterfly, an award-winning columnist, is the trending topics and food Q&A reporter at The Progress-Index voted the 2022 Tri-Cities Best of the Best Social Media Personality. Have a news tip on local trends or businesses? Contact Kristi (she, her) at [email protected], follow @KHiggins_PI on X and @socialbutterflykristi on Instagram.
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Source link https://www.progress-index.com/story/lifestyle/pets/2024/12/30/drone-finds-dog-missing-three-days-prince-george-county-pet-seventeen-years-old-blind-deaf/77266820007/
