OAKLAND PARK, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida family is relieved to be reunited with their beloved dog, days after their pet ran off in the wake of a bad car crash.
A rollover wreck would leave Debby Dawson thankful to walk away from the crash but frantically searching for the family dog for days.
Now the Dawson family can rest easy after an emotional reunion with their beloved pet — all thanks to first responders.
“Where ya been? I looked right where you were,” said one fire responder.
It was a tender moment Debby and her family have been waiting for.
“There’s more good people out there than you think,” she said.
Moose, the family’s 15-month-old pet, finally back home after running away from the scene of the frightening crash on Interstate 95, south of Cypress Creek Road, on Saturday.
Debby was driving back home to Jacksonville when a driver cut her off, sending her car rolling over with her and Moose inside.
“He ran off. He was petrified and scared,” said Debby. “I wasn’t thinking about myself; I just could think about him.”
Debby was taken to Broward Health North and was released later that night. But still, there was no sign of Moose.
“I’m lucky to be alive, and I’m blessed to be here. And then from there, we just started searching for Moose. He became our priority to find him,” said Debby.
Her son and husband rushed down from Jacksonville to help in the search for their beloved pet.
“But this ring right here, the one that was on there before was just literally, like, pulled apart,” said Corey Dawson, Debby’s husband.
“Stuck on a seat belt or something,” said the son.
“So we had no way of tracking him,” said Corey.
But on Tuesday afternoon, the Dawsons received a call from Oakland Park Fire Station. The first responders would give them the happy ending they were hoping for.
“He [Moose] was laying in the rubble, off 95, in some bushy area,” said Oakland Park Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Monica Maldonado.
“I had sent Corey a voice text of myself calling out to him, and when they played it for him, he heard my voice, and that’s when he got up and came out of the bushes,” said Debby.
Moose was safe and sound. He only suffered minor injuries to his paws.
The family is grateful to the first responders who helped bring their sweet Moo-Moo back home.
“They promised me they would find him, and they did, and I cannot, cannot thank them enough for all their work, and hard effort, not giving up,” said Debby.
Debby said that after their emotional reunion, the first activity Moose did was stuff his face with some yummy dog food.
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