Eagle vs dog has happy ending
A dog owner from Pennsylvania posted an anguished message on Facebook this week. ‘‘Today an eagle carried off Zoey,’’ Monica Newhard wrote.
Zoey, a seven-year-old bichon frise, had been playing in the back garden when the eagle swooped.
Felipe Rodriguez, Newhard’s brother, saw it happen. There was a screech, and when he looked out of the window he saw giant wings beating and a great bird rising over the garden and the small town of Bowmanstown, carrying his sister’s dog.
Birds carrying off pets is unusual in Pennsylvania. ‘‘It has been documented before, but not that often,’’ said Laurie Goodrich, a biologist at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, 40 kilometres west of Bowmanstown.
Newhard said eagles often passed over her home on the bank of the Lehigh River, and rabbits lived beneath her shed, but she never feared for her dog.
She posted the message on Facebook certain that she would never see Zoey again. ‘‘The tears keep coming and my heart is broken,’’ she wrote. ‘‘We can’t even put her to rest.’’
The same day, seven kilometres away, a woman driving on a snowy back route stopped to investigate a small furry lump in the road.
It was Zoey, and she had ‘‘icicles hanging from all over’’ and ‘‘could hardly move’’, Christina Hartman said.
Hartman wrapped Zoey in a blanket and took her home, where she fed the dog chicken and rice soup, which helped to revive her. Zoey had bruises on her back and patches where the fur was missing, and walked with a limp.
She was soon on her way home after Hartman spotted Newhard’s Facebook message and phoned her.
Zoey is now recovering at home, but remains reluctant to go outside.