For more than a day, Sonja Jarmoszuk searched for her 15-year-old Portuguese water dog, Pumpkin, after the dog disappeared near her home in Rocky River, Ohio. The search ended successfully when a thermal drone operator located Pumpkin tangled in vines.
After searching through the night without results, Jarmoszuk sought help from Craig Fazenbaker of Grunt Deer Recovery LLC on September 14. According to WOIO, Fazenbaker used a thermal imaging drone to scan the area near a Lake Erie embankment.
“Pumpkin is an old gal and with her being hard of hearing and not so great on her mobility, we knew deep down that she couldn’t have gotten far,” Fazenbaker said on his company Facebook page.
Fazenbaker noticed something unusual during the search. After changing the color palette on his thermal drone, he spotted Pumpkin behind Jarmoszuk’s home.
“I got her! Right out back, right there,” Fazenbaker is heard saying, going on to tell the owner that Pumpkin was still alive and alert.
He made his way through steep terrain and thick vines to reach Pumpkin. WOIO reported that the dog had become entangled and could not move.
“As soon as my arms went around her, that’s when her tail was just instantly going to town like hey someone’s picking me up I’m safe now,” Fazenbaker told the station.
Pumpkin was reunited with Jarmoszuk within 20 minutes of being found, concluding a 27-hour search. Rocky River is located about 10 miles west of Cleveland.
Fazenbaker emphasized how important it was to act quickly and praised Jarmoszuk’s decision to seek professional help: “We firmly believe that the owner did an AMAZING JOB on know when to reach out and ask for help,” he said on Facebook. “With her being so high in age Pumpkin would have 100% not have gotten free.”
