Dog missing for two months found alive inside Missouri cave

Scrappy mutt managed to survive for close to 60 days before being rescued by spelunkers

Jeff Bohnert in Perryville, Missouri, with his 13-year-old dog, Abby. AP

Jeff Bohnert had all but given up on seeing his poodle-hound mix again after she went missing in early June. Two months later, he got a text from a neighbour: people exploring a nearby cave found a dog — could it be Abby?

Mr Bohnert doubted it, but still curious, he went to the cave site near his rural Missouri home. That’s when he saw the picture one of the rescuers had taken.

“I said, ‘that’s my dog,’” Mr Bohnert said.

Making Abby’s tale even more amazing is that she is weeks shy of turning 14. Yet somehow, she managed to survive nearly 60 days on her own, apparently much or all of it in a barren, pitch-dark, 14°C cave.

Abby and Mr Bohnert’s other dog, Summer, do everything together, including misbehave.

On June 9, the pair ran away from home, Mr Bohnert said. It had happened before, and in the rural area near Perryville in eastern Missouri, it was generally no big deal, as she always came home.

When Mr Bohnert awoke the next morning, Summer was back home but Abby was not.

“They never separate,” he said. “I figured something bad had happened. I mean, she’s old. She could just get overcome by the heat.”

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  Jeneda Benally reacts to the announcement that her dog, Mr Happy Face, won the World's Ugliest Dog Contest in Petaluma, California. AFP

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  Mr Happy Face, a 17-year-old Chinese crested saved from a hoarder's house, won the competition, taking home the $1,500 prize. AFP

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  Ann Lewis brushes the hair of her dog Wild Thang before the start of the World's Ugliest Dog Competition. AFP

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  Wild Thang makes an effort to intimidate the competition. AFP

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  Apparently dogs with uncontrollable tongues are a big hit at the contest. AFP

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  Judges react as Wild Thang struts his stuff. AFP

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  Contestants and their people line the stage at the World's Ugliest Dog competition. AP

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  China Su, a pug rescued from China, awaits her turn on the stage. AP

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  Judge Mamrie Hart reacts to Monkey, a dog from Pleasant Hill, California. AP

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  Tee Tee, a Chinese crested, is shown to judge Brian Sobel. AFP

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  Monkey turns to face an adoring public. AP

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  Ann Lewis and Wild Thing. AP

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  Mandarina pants on her owner's lap while awaiting the start of the World's Ugliest Dog Competition. AFP

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  Despite the name of the competition, all dogs are beautiful. AFP

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  Canine contestants and their handlers await the competition. AP

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  Some of the dogs were not so ugly. AFP

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  Mr Happy Face is a whole different story. AFP

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  Morita, a Mexican hairless, appears to have plenty of hair. AP

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  Mr Happy Face could not be reached for comment regarding his victory. AFP

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  Rescued pugs named Jinny Lu and China Su of the Pug Hotel Senior Sanctuary in Sonoma County relax in their stroller. Reuters

Mr Bohnert posted about his missing dog on Facebook, reached out to neighbours and contacted police, but no one had seen Abby.

Last week, Gerry Keene and five other adults, along with five children, entered the Berome Moore Cave, planning a day of exploring. One of the children ran ahead of the group and yelled back: “There’s a dog in here.”

“She was just lying there curled up in a ball,” Mr Keene recalled. “She lifted her head and looked at us but she didn’t respond to verbal commands. She looked like she was pretty close to being done.”

Mr Keene enlisted the help of another caver who happened to be there, Rick Haley. They knew Abby couldn’t make the long walk back to the entrance, especially as it was through tight passageways and up a steep incline.

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  Oman’s Jebel Akhdar region is dotted with caves caused by eroding limestone. Photo: Nabil Alsaqri

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  A group of Omani cavers are mapping out the openings. Photo: Salim Alsuqri

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  The cavers have written a book about Oman's cave system, ranging from expert level explorations to family-friendly adventures. Photo: Nabil Alsaqri

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  The same team discovered the 'Well of Hell' cave last year.

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  The caves vary in size, from the small to the enormous.

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  A caver lies on the ground, to manoeuvre in a tight area, during an expedition. Photo: Nabil Alsaqri

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  Mounds known as stalagmites on the floor of a cave.

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  Icicle-shaped stalactites form across a cave’s ceiling.

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  Rays of sunlight illuminate a shaft as the explorers descend.

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  Oman is promoting the caves as a tourist draw.

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  The caves are home to lizards, water beetles, snails, hunting spiders and fish.

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  This cave called Khaslat Safi Sahra was known to locals but not extensively explored.

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  The period of discovering, documenting and surveying the cave took about five hours.

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  A cave-dwelling spider.

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  Some caves were used in the past as shelter or hideouts during times of conflict.

“It was critical that we not give her any rough handling,” Mr Haley said. In the rocky areas through small passageways, “we would carry her short distance, set her down, then kind of move in front of her, reach back, pick her up and put her in front of us”.

Soon after initially finding Abby, Mr Keene briefly went to a few homes nearby to see if anyone was missing a dog. One neighbour reached out to Mr Bohnert, who lives close enough to the cave site that he can see it from his home.

Mr Bohnert figures Abby ended up in the cave after falling into a sinkhole or a hidden entrance. It is speculated that she hunkered down and was able to essentially live off her own body fat.

“I think she was just in a preservation mode,” Mr Bohnert said.

Abby normally weighs about 23 kilograms, Mr Bohnert said, but he guessed she lost half her body weight in the cave. Since her rescue, she has regained weight and started to get back the voice she likely lost barking for help

She’s also wagging her tail again, showing she’s putting the trauma behind her.

“It’s amazing how she’s springing back already,” Mr Bohnert said. “She’s acting like herself again.”

Four thousand beagles saved from animal testing — in pictures

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  Volunteers will help them adjust the dogs to people before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP

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  Daniel, a staff member with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue, hugs a beagle after returning from the Paw Prints Animal Hospital in Maryland for veterinary appointments. Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images / AFP

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  A beagle's teeth are shown prior to dental work at Paw Prints Animal Hospital and before going to a foster home. Getty Images / AFP

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  Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, trims the fingernails of a sedated beagle in Waldorf, Maryland. Getty Images / AFP

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  A beagle rescued from Envigo breeding and research facility waits to be taken to Paw Prints Animal Hospital for a medical check up. Getty Images / AFP

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  Homeward Trails Animal Rescue partnered with Paw Prints clinic to get rescued pets spayed and neutered as well as dental work, and heartworm treatment done before they are sent to foster homes or adopted. Getty Images / AFP

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  Once in peril of being tortured, these rescued beagles now run freely. Getty Images / AFP

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  Homeward Trails has been working to find homes for 500 of the 4,000 beagles recently rescued from Envigo, which was shut down due to multiple violations for animal cruelty. Getty Images / AFP

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  Jazmynne, a veterinary technician, places a beagle in a calming room after it was recently spayed at Paw Prints Animal Hospital. Getty Images / AFP

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  The purebred pooches will be available for adoption after getting proper vet care. Getty Images / AFP

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  Beagles from Homeward Trails Animal Rescue are placed in a transportation vehicle before going to a veterinary clinic for spay and neuter operations. Getty Images / AFP

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  Volunteers play rescued beagles at Homeward Trails Animal Rescue. Getty Images / AFP

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  A pup is readied for bedtime. Getty Images / AFP

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  Staff members with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue place beagles in their crates before their bedtime. Getty Images / AFP

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  Rescued from potential torture, this beagle may soon have a new home. Getty Images / AFP

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  Volunteers with Homeward Trails Animal Rescue sit and watch a movie with the lucky dogs. Getty Images / AFP

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  Volunteers pet and hold the animals daily. Getty Images / AFP

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  Beagles at Westminster Kennel Dog Show in the UK. Not all of the breed have it so lucky, and animal rights activists have been hitting the streets claiming that a dog's place is in the home, not the lab. AP

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  Camp Beagle is a protest camp on the roadside set up outside beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, in August 2021. The company's pups are sold to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

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  Beagle breeder Marshal BioResources Acres in Cambridgeshire, the UK, sells its puppies to animal testing laboratories. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

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  A protester outside Marshal BioResources Acres. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

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  Residents of Camp Beagle and their supporters gather outside Marshal BioResources. Sopa Images / LightRocket / Getty

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  Singer Will Young during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site in April. Photo: tcm.digital

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  Young and other activists during an anti-vivisection demonstration outside the MBR Acres research site. Photo: tcm.digital

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  Protesters rally against Vivotecnia, a laboratory alleged to have used more than 30 beagle puppies for drug research, in Sant Jaume square in Barcelona, Spain, in January. EPA

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  The protesters in Barcelona took along their own pups. EPA

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  Vivotecnia is alleged to have used more than 30 beagle pups for drug research. EPA

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  Beagles at the protest in Barcelona in January. EPA