A 9-pound Yorkie mix named Burt somehow survived two harrowing weeks alone in the California wilderness while facing coyotes, busy traffic and even a mountain lion.
Kim Sill, founder of the nonprofit Shelter Hope, told KTLA 5 News that her group rescued Burt about three months ago from orchards in south Bakersfield.
Because Burt was unsocialized and frightened of people, rescuers were cautiously optimistic when they found him a foster family. Unfortunately, the placement took a frightening turn almost immediately.
“The leash got out of his hand and he got away,” Sill said of the foster family.
Shelter Hope and a team of volunteers quickly launched an enormous search. They distributed flyers throughout the Thousand Oaks area and followed reported sightings across a radius of roughly 10 miles.
At one point, several callers claimed they had seen Burt get struck by a vehicle and feared the tiny dog was dead. Thankfully, they were wrong.
The search became even more terrifying when a resident called Sill at 2 a.m. and reported finding Burt hiding underneath a car while three coyotes circled the vehicle.
Before rescuers could reach him, Burt managed to escape once again.
Sill described the frightened dog as extremely cautious, fearful of humans and “very savvy of the terrain.” Those survival instincts may have helped keep him alive as he traveled through an area filled with predators and dangerous roads.
Volunteers from Dog Days Search and Rescue eventually set up cages containing water and monitored them with trail cameras. Over the following week, the cameras captured Burt wandering near busy roads and dangerously close to coyotes.
One camera even recorded a mountain lion in the area.
Despite every threat surrounding him, Burt continued fighting to survive. After two weeks in the wilderness, rescuers finally managed to bring the exhausted little dog to safety.
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Sill credited the remarkable rescue to the dedication of volunteers, support from the local community and Burt’s incredible persistence. She also acknowledged that searches like this one do not always have such a happy ending.
Against overwhelming odds, this tiny Yorkie mix survived it all and finally made it back into safe hands.