Remarkable rescue reunites man, man's best friend

Zach Hackett was up 12,000 feet hiking on a mountain in Colorado when he heard a faint yip from a dog.

As he walked through a clearing, he spotted a black and white Shetland sheepdog, visibly shivering behind some fallen pine trees.

"I was a little startled, because dogs shouldn't be up there so high," said Hackett, 33, who had been hiking all day and was about four miles from his apartment in Breckenridge.

"Hey buddy," he called out. "Are you shivering cold, buddy? Can you come with me? Can you follow me?"

As he drew closer that day, May 14, Hackett realized the dog was too weak to move. It was about 45 degrees out — though the temperature dipped below freezing at night — and the dog looked like it was near death.

"I believe what I'd heard was his last cry for help, and that if I hadn't come along, he would have died there," Hackett said. "I knew I was going to have to carry him down the mountain."

About five weeks earlier, on April 8, a mile from where Hackett lives, Mike Krugman had let his dog, Riley, out for a predinner walk on his 36-acre property.

"I got his kibble ready, and when he didn't come back, I didn't worry at first," Krugman said. "Sometimes Riley likes to go down to the barn and bark at the horses."

When Krugman went to the barn and couldn't find the dog, he became concerned and decided to take a ride around the property on his ATV. The five-foot fence that surrounds his property was buried in snow, leaving Krugman to wonder whether Riley climbed on the snow and walked over the top of the fence.

There was another possibility.

"I thought, 'Maybe Riley has gone looking for Pam,'" said Krugman, 74.

His wife, Pam Krugman, had died of a heart condition in January, and she and Riley were close, he explained.

"Riley would sleep on her pillow every night," Krugman said. "Then when Pam passed away, he hid behind the bed for several days. You could tell he really missed her."

The morning after Riley, 9, went missing, Krugman looked for the sheltie's tracks in the snow and couldn't find any. So he asked Summit Lost Pet Rescue to help him search for the dog.

Karen Payne, a pet rescue volunteer, put up "missing" posters and scoured the area for Riley. Weeks passed.

"We targeted places where we thought he might have gone walking before with [Pam]," said Payne. "We never give up hope, but it became concerning as the days went by and nobody had picked up any sign of him."

Krugman wouldn't give up hope. "I left his food bowl out for him," he said.

Krugman also left out one of his wife's housecoats, thinking her scent might bring Riley back.

Hackett had lived in Breckenridge for only a few months when he decided to go hiking that day. He said he hadn't heard about the missing dog.

"I thought I'd go exploring and see what was in my new backyard," Hackett said. "I packed some snacks and an extra layer of clothes and headed out to see how far up I could go."

He made it to the top of the mountain, known as Peak 4, and was on his way down when he spotted Riley. Realizing he'd have to carry the dog, he wrapped Riley in the extra windbreaker he'd brought along, scooped him up and cradled him like a baby.

"It's such a mystery how he survived — he was in really poor shape," he said. "All the way down, I held him to my chest and told him, 'We're almost there, buddy. We're going to get you home tonight. You're not going to die on this mountain.'"

Hackett carefully picked his way down the slope over rough terrain for two hours and said he reached the Blue River, about a quarter of a mile from his apartment, just as it was getting dark.

He carried Riley through the knee-deep water.

"The current was strong, but I felt I had to cross the river instead of walk around it, or it would have taken too long, and Riley needed to be warmed up," he said, noting that he slowly waded across, clutching the dog.

When he reached the apartment, he and his girlfriend, Aubrie Wasilewski, ran a warm bath for Riley.

"We gave him small amounts of water, and I made him some scrambled eggs, but he didn't want them," he said.

The local animal shelter, Summit County Animal Shelter, was closed for the evening, so Hackett said he and Wasilewski cared for Riley through the night, then drove him there.

"People at the shelter were shocked when they checked the Summit Lost Pet Rescue records and learned Riley had been gone for five weeks and one day," he said.

Riley weighed 24 pounds when he went missing, but had lost half of his body weight, Hackett noted.

"He weighed only 12 pounds and had survived out there for five weeks? That was pretty stunning and emotional to me," he said.

Krugman said he felt the same way.

"I got this call from the shelter, and they said a good Samaritan had brought Riley in," he recalled. "Of course, I cried. I'm not a real spiritual person, but somebody had to have been looking out for that dog, maybe my wife."

Krugman picked up Riley and drove him directly to a veterinarian to be treated for dehydration. Three days later, Krugman was able to meet the man who rescued Riley when Hackett stopped by his house to see how Riley was doing.

"I'm just so thankful for what he did and for the efforts of all the people who searched for Riley," Krugman said, adding that his dog now has a hearty appetite and is gaining weight.

"He is also now the proud owner of a GPS tracking collar," he noted. "This will never happen to Riley again."