FREMONT COUNTY — A woman from Cripple Creek was reunited with her 3-year-old golden retriever on Sunday, after the dog had been missing for nearly three months. The dog was rescued thanks to deputies at the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office who were using an infrared drone camera.
The dog’s name is Farrah and she was in a car accident back in late June. The owner’s father was driving the car on Highway 50 when the accident happened. Farrah was inside of the car at the time, and after the accident she ran away.
Her owner, Taylor Salazar, spent weeks looking for her but she never lost hope. The two were reunited Sunday morning after 82 days.
On Tuesday, two days after their reunion, News5 met up with them and Farrah was getting all the love, pets and snuggles from her owner.
“She's just sweet. She's always been that way. There's some separation anxiety for her, which is understandable but other than that she's pretty much the same girl,” said Salazar. “The fact that she survived basically three months in the wilderness is a miracle.”
Farrah has long been a miracle in the Salazar home. The family got her as a puppy when Salazar's late husband was fighting stage four stomach cancer during a 10-month battle.
“As soon as he saw her, he was instantly in love. Because with cancer, you kind of live in gray, everything's negative, especially with that diagnosis.” said Salazar. “When we brought Farrah in, our house was happy again. She was our sunshine, and so when we lost her it was like, we can’t, we can't have her go out this way.”
Salazar and other neighbors spent weeks, day and night searching for Farrah. Others spotted her several times on at-home camera systems or within passing.
“It was a daily thing to try to search for her. We set up food stations and scent stations, plus water. We could see her, but she would be just far enough to where she could get away if she had to, because she was that scared,” said Salazar.
The Fremont County Sheriff's Office knew about the missing dog, and on Sunday the aircraft surveillance team deployed an infrared drone camera in the area where Farrah was last seen. Within ten minutes of the drone being in the air, the deputies spotted the dog from above. Salazar was nearby at the time.
“When she realized that it was me. She ran to me, she hopped through a barbed wire fence and later her head was in my lap,” said Salazar.
Farrah will likely have to get her back leg amputated because of an injury sustained to her hip and knee area. She's severely underweight, weighing about 55 pounds, when she used to weigh 90 to 100 pounds before the accident.
Salazar says it's a miracle Farrah is alive, but she’s happy she’s home.
“The team with Fremont County Sheriff's department really are our heroes at this point. It was pretty amazing what they did to make it happen, because without them, we probably would not have her back,” said Salazar. “I lost my person and I thought I was going to lose my dog too. But she's she's here, which is amazing. She’s a miracle.”
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