CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (WLS) – A dog who went missing in Illinois was rescued thanks to the help of drone technology.
Kate Belmonte said her dog, named Charlie, went outside on a foggy morning and vanished.
After her family spent a few days looking for him themselves, they decided to take a new approach.
They used a thermal drone to locate their 2-year-old pet. He was found Sunday in Crystal Lake, just a two-minute walk from their home.
“And he was in this kind of park, walking trail area off in some tall grass and broken-down trees. And, he was hiding there,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte and her fiancee David Nowak had been looking for the Bernese Mountain dog since the Monday before.
With the help of Dog Gone Pet Recovery, a Lake Villa Animal search and rescue group, the family was finally reunited with their canine best friend.
Unfortunately, Charlie was found badly hurt. He had suffered a broken femur and was taken to a veterinary hospital with a broken femur.
The couple said they are grateful for Charlie’s will to survive in the cold for nearly a week and for the rescue group’s dayslong effort to find him.
“It’s just unbelievable technology, and pretty much if without this, I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think we would be able to find him,” Nowak said.
Belmonte and Nowak said Charlie came back home to them Tuesday to rejoin them and their two other dogs.
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