National Guardsman, Puppy Reunite Nine Days After Dog Buried By Tornado
By Jon Graef in News on Nov 30, 2013 5:00PM
A Washington, Ill.-based National Guardsman and his 6-month-old pit bull puppy had a happy reunion earlier this week when the dog was finally found nine days after the guardsman's apartment building was destroyed by mid-November's devastating tornado. The dog, Dexter, was found buried under the rubble, and, according a news release from the Illinois National Guard, was "coaxed out with hot dogs."
Dexter's owner, Spc. Jacob Montgomery, told the Sun-Times he had a feeling of "crazy relief" when he received a Facebook message from a neighbor telling Montgomery that he had Dexter. Dexter was found by a member of Rescuing Animals In Need of Central Illinois.
“The vet said he has no real injuries - just a few scrapes and cuts. He was malnourished, but he’s going to be fine,” Montgomery said to the Illinois National Guard.
Randy Wheat, President of RAIN, set the scene of Dexter's rescue for the Sun-Times:
The volunteer who spotted the dog called for the building’s maintenance worker, who brought a ladder to reach Dexter, Wheat said. The building’s roof and walls were blown off, he said. Dexter was found near the spot on the apartment’s floor where the kitchen sink had ended up after the tornado.The dog “was emaciated,” Wheat said. “You could see his ribs. That said, he checked out OK. He had nothing to eat and drink except snow.”
Wheat said Montgomery had stood outside the ruined apartment building calling out Dexter’s name every day since the tornado.
Oh, did your heart just explode, too?
According to the National Guard, Montgomery "has been a military police officer with the Illinois Army National Guard for more than five years and is a member of the 333rd Military Police Co. of Freeport." He was at his civilian job when the tornado struck.
“I am lucky. All I had in my apartment is gone, but my dog was all I really had to worry about,” Montgomery said in the news release.
Montgomery is staying with a friend near Peoria until he and Dexter can find a new home.