We often hear stories about pets who are abandoned by their owners on the side of the road, but sometimes that abandonment is totally unintentional.
That’s the situation that a pair of sweet pit bulls named Tonka and Little P faced when a hiking accident took the life of their doggy daddy, Kris Busching.
Now the image of his two fur babies comforting each other in the aftermath of the tragedy is breaking hearts everywhere.
Kris was out hiking with his pups and his friend Mark in Colorado when they got lost. Unfortunately, they had only prepared to be gone for a day and had no provisions beyond that point.
After two days in with no sign of rescue, the talented 33-year-old tattoo artist attempted to descend into a canyon to get some freshwater with his two dogs. It was during this attempt that Kris lost his footing and tumbled down into the canyon below.
As Kris lost his footing he tried to pull Tonka and Little P to safety but unfortunately, they fell down into the canyon right along with him. The dogs survived the terrible accident, but Kris sadly passed away on impact.
From his vantage point high above, Mark could see that the dogs were still alive and badly injured. Unfortunately, he couldn’t reach them, so he hollered for help and lit signal fires, and did whatever else he could do to get rescued.
The next day when search and rescue helicopters finally found them, Tonka and Little P were still standing vigil next to Kris. They were his loyal friends to the end, and hadn’t left his side in all that time.
Mark, who knew that Tonka and Little P meant everything to Kris, refused to leave Colorado without the dogs by his side.
When the three of them were stable enough to travel, he picked the pups up from the shelter and drove them all the way back to Long Island, where Kris’ family lives.
Nonprofit animal shelter Mr. Bones & Co quickly stepped in to care for the dogs, which helped give Kris’ devastated family time to grieve.
They also setup a GoFundMe page to help pay for the pair’s emergency medical treatments. A second GoFundMe was also created to help pay for Kris’ funeral expenses.
“His family, devastated to lose him, is overwhelmed with funeral expenses and unable to afford the extensive emergency surgery needed to save TONKA’s badly broken leg and the x-rays to ensure LITTLE P’s jaw is not broken. They are just as heartbroken to not be able to care for his dogs.”
“His bond with LITTLE P is forever.”
On their Instagram page, Mr. Bones & Co posted a heartwarming video of the two dogs touching nose-to-nose.
“The level of loyalty and love that radiated from these two as big brother TONKA was admitted to our emergency animal hospital @amcny so that his leg could be saved needs no further caption.”
Little P is currently in a foster home, while Tonka recovers from his broken bones away from his brother, so he’s not tempted to play and re-injure himself.
In the meantime, the veterinary staff gave Tonka a pair of cute little tattoos on his casts, in honor of his late tattoo artist father.
When both dogs are healthy, Mr. Bones & Co will be adopting the dogs out to someone who is willing to take both of them together.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
