MIAMISBURG — A Miamisburg woman and her dog are together again after the dog went missing for eight days.
Emily Young told News Center 7′s Mike Campbell that Prince, her five-year-old Dachshund-Chihuahua mix, went missing on February 12. Young said she thought he followed her outside when she was taking the trash out on Saturday and ran away.
As the days went by and she wasn’t hearing anything about Prince, Young said she started to think the worst.
“I thought for sure that I’d never see him again” Young said.
A Humane Society officer spotted Prince on Thursday near Sycamore Creek, but when the officer tried to get him, he got scared, jumped into the creek and ended up getting swept away.
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Karen Manley, of the group Dayton Lost and Recovered Animals, saw on social media that Prince was lost. While she didn’t know Young or Prince, she jumped in to help the search.
“I connect with animals more than people and it’s just something I like to do for the community,” Manley said.
Manley did not know Prince had been swept away when she reached out to Young, offering to put a live trap in her backyard in hopes of catching the dog.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know how to tell her, but this might not have a good outcome,’” Manley said.
Manley said even her parents were invested in the search for Prince. She said her father couldn’t stand that Prince had not been found and drove to Miamisburg from Huber Heights to join the search on Friday. They, along with a few of Manley’s friends, were unsuccessful on Friday and regrouped on Sunday.
When they returned to the creek on Sunday, the group walked over two miles along the creek, searching for Prince. It was on their way back that they got some help in the form of a cardinal.
“I was like ‘This cardinal has been with us the whole way back,’” Manley said. “The cardinal ducked into the woods and the next thing you know, he pops out from some leaves [by the creek] and it starts growling at us.”
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That’s when the group spotted Prince.
Manley said her friend, Amy, got down on a rock near Prince, but he tried to bite her.
“We got him in a blanket, almost like a sack of potatoes, and he popped his head out and jumped [into the creek],” Manley said. “[Amy] jumped in after him and we were able to get a cage down there and get him in it.”
Prince was cold and wet, but the group was able to reunite him with Young.
“The chances were not good,” Young said. “It turned out the be the greatest.”
Young credits Manley and her friends for saving Prince’s life.
“If it weren’t for them, he may not be here,” Young said.
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