An elderly dog ​​who nearly froze to death in a ditch was reunited with her family thanks to a diligent deputy with the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office in Maine, USA.

On the evening of February 25, Officer Mark Anderson received a report of a dog lying in the road. He went outside but, at first, did not find the dog. But he continued searching even though the temperature outside was below 10 degrees.

“After checking the nearby ditches, he found a very cold dog that looked almost frozen to death. There were claw marks where he had tried to get out of the ditch before his paw got too cold. He was raising his paw and whining loudly when Deputy Anderson approached her,” the Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office wrote on  Facebook  about the incident.

He immediately loaded her into his patrol car and headed to the dispatch center.

“On-duty dispatchers provided immediate attention,” the sheriff’s office Facebook post reads. “They wrapped her in blankets and used a portable heater to warm her. They prepared a plate of food for her and once she warmed up and stopped shivering, she ate the whole plate.”

Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Office

Exhausted by the ordeal, the dog fell asleep on the floor.

Officer Anderson continued to help the dog, making lost dog fliers, passing them out in the neighborhood, and knocking on doors, trying to locate the dog’s family.

“It wasn’t long before I discovered the owner’s identity. He learned that the dog was at least 14 years old and had been left outside around 9 p.m. the night before. When she did not return, the owner, an elderly woman, stayed up all night waiting for her dog to return,” the statement continued.

Fortunately, the story had a happy ending and the dog was reunited with its owner. We are sure that after a scare like this, the owner will be more careful when it comes to letting the dog out of her!