Shakira Sias was a little iffy about whether or not to go kayaking with her brother and sister-in-law Jessica Rose on Iowa’s Chariton River.
They weren’t sure if the weather was going to hold up.
But they decided to just go for it. One dog owner is very grateful that they did since their kayaking trip ended in the rescue of her dog Ethyl.
“Thankfully, we did because not even 20 minutes into our trip there was a brush pile and I had just looked up and into the river bank and I had seen a white outline and it was Ethyl’s face,” Sias told KYOU News.
Ethyl is a 10-year-old boxer who had gone missing six days prior on July 3rd after running off from being spooked by some fireworks.
Rose and her husband fought against the current in order to reach the dog who appeared to be weak, hungry, tired, dehydrated, and covered in ticks and scratches.
She also had a limp. They were lucky to find Ethyl when they did.
“If she had tried to get down further to get a drink from the river she would not have been able to get back up. She would’ve been swept away in the brush pile and drowned,” Shakira said.
The couple was able to pull Ethel to safety who was found about 5 miles from her home. Ethyl’s mom Kim Hindley told KYOU news that Ethyl is an inside dog and was very surprised that she had gotten that far when she ran off.
“Sunday night is when we got home and she was gone and we went looking all over for her yelling until about 2 AM in the morning and she didn’t come back, so I knew she went further than up the hill,” Hindley said.
Rose ended up floating down the river with Ethyl for about four hours before they were finally able to find a place where they could get off of the river.
“She was shaken and scared,” Rose told KCCI. “But I don’t know about two hours later she was standing up. She was happy. She seemed to actually kind of like floating down the river.”
Poor Ethyl was shaking but eventually calmed down enough to sit and drink some water
Ethyl thankfully had her collar and tags on her so they were able to contact Hindley.
Hindley had her son meet the rescue team at the end of the river since she was away at a wedding. Ethyl was treated for dehydration and ticks and is just fine now.
Since then, she’s been reunited with her mom and has been eating well since it is believed that went without eating the entire time she had been missing.
Rose ended up posting their rescue of Ethyl on TikTok where it ended up going viral.
Several local news outlets also picked up their story. Hindley says she is very grateful to her dog’s rescuers and they are planning to meet up soon.
Check out the viral video of Ethyl below!
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