Dog Makes Miracle Recovery After 27 Days Stuck in Well

'I don't think many dogs would have survived this'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 11, 2016 5:23 PM CST
Dog Makes Miracle Recover After 27 Days Stuck in Well
Stock image   (Getty Images/THEPALMER)

After 27 days starving and injured at the bottom of a well and another three weeks in the hospital, a 7-year-old Labrador retriever finally went home. When Bruno disappeared, his owners, John and Cindy Billesberger, searched their little corner of Canada for weeks, CBC reports. On Oct. 14, the Billesbergers' two other dogs refused to move away from an old well hiding in some grass during a walk, according to the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. Ten feet below, Bruno was sitting in the mud. "He was pretty rough looking," John tells CBC. Bruno was dehydrated and had lost nearly half his body weight. CTV News reports he had severely injured his paws trying to escape.

“You’ve got such a feeling of helplessness when you pull an animal out like that, and they’re suffering, and there’s nothing you can do," Cindy says. Over the coming weeks, vets nursed Bruno back to health, monitoring him 24 hours a day. He almost didn't make it. “I don’t think many dogs would have survived this,” Dr. Alison Khoo says. “To continue to see him improve has been so rewarding.” Bruno's recovery will become a case file to help vets save other dogs in the future. Bruno, who still has a cast on one paw, went home Thursday and will continue to require a special diet and physical therapy. But that's not dampening his family's enthusiasm one bit. "He'll be happy," says Cindy. (Fire officials think this dog died a hero.)

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