SCIPIO, Millard County — A Riverton family has praise for a Utah Highway Patrol trooper who found their 5-month-old puppy after it spent three days in the wilderness.
Tennille, a golden retriever, was found in Scipio, far from her home in Riverton.
The puppy was about to embark on the trip to Kentucky and then to the Golden Retriever Club of America National Specialty in Ohio. But instead, when her owner least expected it, she took off on a dead sprint into the wild and charted her own cross-country course.
Riverton resident Marianne Miller, a dog breeder, said she was taking two dogs to a friend last week, and when they met at a Flying J gas station, Tennille ran away.
As Tennille ran south toward I-15, Miller and her friend chased her and searched for her in their vehicles, but they could not catch up.
“I was just hysterical. I was hysterical,” Miller said. “She just vanished. I mean, she literally vanished.”
The two stayed the night in the area and put up fliers at local businesses, talked to locals and contacted every vet within a 50-mile radius. Miller’s husband called the sheriff’s office, but it wasn’t until Sunday morning that they heard anything — a driver had spotted a glimpse of a dog collar.
Trooper Jeff Jones was dispatched to the area of the Scipio interchange on I-15 Sunday, where he found Tennille, lying on the side of the road, wearing a green leash.
“I walked up and she didn’t make a move,” Jones said. “She didn’t try and move, look at me, anything. She could barely lift her head.”
She could only wag her tail, he said.
Jones said he wondered whether the dog had been hit because she couldn’t even stand up. He scooped her up and took her to the Flying J, where he filled up a hot dog boat with water.
Rather than taking her to a shelter, Jones took the dog to a veterinarian in Delta, who said Tennille likely wouldn’t have survived. Jones stayed with Tennille for an hour as she was treated for a 105 degree fever and severe dehydration.
“It just seemed like she was probably someone’s kid,” Jones said. “I knew she was bad enough that if I just dropped her off at a shelter, and she didn’t get medical attention, she probably wasn’t going to make it.”
Jones even offered to pay for the treatment if Miller wasn’t willing.
The vet kept Tennille overnight, and when Miller went to pick her up, Jones was there checking on her.
“What a man. What a hero,” Miller said. “He could have easily just left her there or taken her to the shelter, but he didn’t.”
Jones said when he went to check on the puppy, she jumped up, licked him and sat in his lap.
“I’m just glad it worked out,” he said. “I’m glad that we actually knew who to call and get her reunited.”
Email: aadams@deseretnews.com