PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU/CNN) – An Oregon husky is recovering after going through a harrowing two weeks in the Mt. Hood wilderness.
Hatcher disappeared from a campground at Frog Lake in late September. He seriously deserves some treats after what he’s been through.
Shae Kosmalski is Hatcher’s owner. She said, “Honestly, it’s really a miracle.”
Kosmalski is a musher from southern Oregon. She’d taken all her dogs to Frog Lake near Mt. Hood in late September, where hatcher disappeared. She explained, “I got all the sled dogs to howl and make lots of noise so hopefully he would hear his pack and come in.”
He never did. Flyers were posted. Search teams were organized. A volunteer searcher finally found him Monday, more than two weeks later.
Kosmalski said, “She went back up to her truck and he was there at her vehicle laying on the ground with three legs.”
Vets at VCA Southeast Portland Animal Hospital treated him.
Veterinary surgeon Dr. Petra Ost described Hatcher’s injuries as “An open wound with bones projecting out of the wound.”
Metal fragments indicate hatcher had been shot not long before being found. Kosmalski speculated, “Maybe thought it was a coyote, saw the gray, maybe thought it was a wolf. But you are not supposed to shoot those so these are some pretty sick people.”
Lost for two weeks, then shot and left for dead.
But the most gruesome part of hatcher’s story was discovered by the vet–bones inside his digestive system.
“We suspect that these are the lower part of his leg so he probably chewed off what was remaining of the leg and ate it,” Dr. Ost said.
Kosmalski said, “I have my baby boy back, it’s just unbelievable. I don’t care how many legs he has. I don’t care.”
Hatcher is still in the hospital. He’ll probably stay there another night before Shae takes him home, but he will make a full recovery.
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