A senior dog that had been missing for two months was finally reunited with its owner after a group of spelunkers found it in a cave.
Spelunkers refer to those who explore caves as a hobby.
The spelunking groups were exploring Tom Moore Cave in Perryville when Abby was found deep inside the cave system.
Spelunker Rick Haley, who is also a trained cave rescuer, was in the cave overseeing a sump dive as there was an issue with some of the diver’s equipment.
Haley was then notified about the dog in the cave.
“The dog was not in good shape,” Haley said in a Facebook post.
It is unknown how long Abby was down there or how she was able to survive being lost from home for that long.
FOX 2 reports that there is running water, fish, and crustaceans in the cave
However, Abby was found in a place that was completely dark which would have made it hard for her to find those resources.
Tom Moore Cave is part of the Moore Cave system, the second largest in Missouri at 24.5 miles long. Abby was found in the cave somewhere between Brewer and Perryville.
Haley and Gerry Keene organized Abby’s rescue.
The spelunkers placed Abby in a duffel bag with her head sticking out in order to protect her and the rescuers if she got scared and struggled on her way out.
“We moved her 500 feet to a very tight, awkward, vertical climb, handing her hand to hand upward to the surface,” Haley explained.
Rescuers, who pulled Abby out of a 2-foot opening in the cave, said that the dust-covered dog was very cooperative on her way out of the cave.
And she was absolutely delighted when she was finally out.
Once Abby was brought to safety, the spelunkers reached out to Biehle Assistant Fire Chief Robert Cahoon.
He helped the men go door-to-door in the area to find Abby’s owner.
Abby’s owner was eventually found and told rescuers that his dog had been missing since June 9.
He had no idea how she got into that cave. Abby was found in the cave on Aug. 6.
Abby’s owner said he was completely shocked to see his dog again and thought she was gone for good.
He later bought the rescuers some ice cream to thank them for rescuing his dog.
The American Humane Society reports that 10 million pets go missing in the U.S. each year.
The Coalition for Reuniting Pets and Families says that only about 23 percent are actually reunited with their owners.
Many were very thankful to the spelunkers for saving Abby and making sure she was safely returned to her owner.
“Omg heroes! Thank you for saving her; I hope she recovers fully and quickly! I hope her owner was just so anxious to get her to a vet,” one commenter said on Facebook.
Learn more about Abby’s amazing rescue in the video below.
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