Missing Dog Survives A Week In The Desert, Gets Rescued By Strangers

A family’s 10-year-old Shih Tzu, who got lost in the desert of Ridgecrest, California during Thanksgiving weekend, gets rescued by a group of strangers.

Carly, the Brannan family’s 10-year-old Shih Tzu, got scared by loud fireworks and ran off during the family’s annual camping trip.

“We were sitting there around the campfire one night, early evening, and this was like the third day we were there and all of a sudden when this loud bomb hit,” Carly’s owner, Peggy Brannan, tells KMPH.

Peggy Brannan continued, “We all got in our side-by-sides and started looking for her, and we couldn’t find her. The next day, we all went out there looking and calling for her. Couldn’t find her.”

And for the next couple of days, the Brannan family looked for Carly in the desert but couldn’t find her.

According to KMPH, Brannan’s granddaughter even posted about Carly’s disappearance on a Ridgecrest Facebook page asking if anyone had found their beloved pooch.

A week after Carly went missing, a group of strangers from Lancester found the dog 10 miles from the Brannan’s campground.

The group went for day rides on their dirt bikes in Ridgecrest when they found Carly.

Peggy Brannan’s granddaughter, Bridgette, said, “I just can’t believe, like she’s ten years old. She has cataracts really bad. And, you know, she’s like shaven down so for her to be out there in 28 degree weather, you know, at night with the winds and stuff out there.”

“Like I just can’t, for a week, I can’t believe she actually survived. I’m still in disbelief,” She continued.

The family calls their reunion with the 10-year-old pooch their Christmas miracle. Peggy Brannan said, “They are just as important to us as my grandkids and my great-grandkids and family. They’re a part of the family.”