An Australian family is indebted to their old blue heeler Max for keeping their 3-year-old girl safe after she was lost in Queensland’s Southern Downs overnight and for more than 15 hours.
The girl, whose name is Aurora, went missing in the wild Australian bushland around 3 p.m. on Friday.
She reportedly wandered off by herself and was not found when a search went underway in the woodlands and hills on the rural property during the wet weather.
More than 100 State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, police and civilians picked their search back up again the next morning.
The girl’s grandmother, Leisa Bennett, was screaming out for Aurora when she heard her grandaughters faint cry.
That’s when Max ran up to Bennett and took her to Aurora.
“She found the dog first. Max led her to Aurora,” Bennet’s partner, Kelly Benston, said.
Bennett said she was overjoyed when she heard the sound of her granddaughter’s voice.
“When I heard her yell ‘Grammy’ I knew it was her,” she said. “I shot up the mountain … and when I got to the top, the dog came to me and led me straight to her.”
Aurora was found about two kilometers from the family’s house. SES said that the girl traveled quite far in the bad weather.
“The area around the house is quite mountainous and is very inhospitable terrain to go walking in, so she’d traveled quite a distance with her dog that was quite loyal to her,” SES area controller Ian Phipps said.
Phipps said that finding the girl was no easy task.
“The search was actually quite hard where the volunteers and the police were, amongst the very steep slopes full of lantana and other vegetation,” he told ABC.net.
The family is extremely grateful that Aurora was found safe and kept that way thanks to Max.
“I think [Aurora] was a bit overwhelmed by the tears and the howling, but I explained to her how happy those tears were,” she said. “It could have gone any of 100 ways, but she’s here, she’s alive, she’s well and it’s a great outcome for our family.”
Aurora did suffer a few cuts and abrasions but was otherwise found in good health.
“With the weather last night it’s quite lucky she is well because it was cold, it was cold and raining,” he said. “She’s a very hardy young lass to survive that without any ill effects and everyone, all the volunteers are extremely happy. They had traveled from all over the region just to do the search and that’s one of the things they join the SES for is to look after the community and do these activities … and bring happiness to a family.”
Max has been named an honorary police dog for keeping Aurora safe.
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