KEY WEST, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man was overjoyed after he was reunited with his canine companion after losing her at sea.
Dan Bursma had already mourned the loss of his 6-year-old long haired dachshund, Kiwi, which he thought he had lost several weeks ago. “We looked for foot prints, we called — nothing,” he said.
Bursma said Kiwi disappeared off his boat while he was spear fishing near the Marquesas Keys, an uninhabited island group about 20 miles west of Key West. “She hides underneath the cuddy here, that’s why I didn’t notice her gone,” he said.
However, Bursma received a miraculous call Friday from a stranger who had found his beloved dog. “I figured it was a robo call,” Bursma said.
Instead of a robot, it was Sarah Steele Cabrera, a University of Florida researcher. “I hear this jingle in the mangroves, which is pretty odd because they’re completely uninhabited,” she said.
Cabrera was on the island searching for an endangered blue butterfly, much to the gratitude of Bursma. “She’s my angel, she found Kiwi,” he said.
Kiwi weighed eight pounds before she was lost and now she weighs four. Despite that, a veterinarian said she wasn’t dehydrated, so Bursma said his goal is to get her back to her previous weight.
All in all, Bursma is happy to have his dog back home. “God did this, without a doubt, brought her home,” he said.
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