A New Zealand dog is back with her owner after surviving a week in a remote area, thanks to the efforts of a crowdfunding campaign, a helicopter crew, and a thermal camera. As RNZ reports, the saga began on March 24 as Jessica Johnston was hiking in the Arahura Valley on the South Island with her border collie, Molly, when she lost her footing and plunged 180 feet down a waterfall. Johnston was airlifted to a hospital with serious injuries, but Molly had vanished. As word spread that the dog was missing, a helicopter company launched a crowdfunding effort that pulled in enough cash to fund a dedicated aerial search, reports CNN.
With about three hours of flight time covered by donations, Precision Helicopters returned to the rugged area Tuesday with thermal imaging gear brought in from Christchurch. "We were just making our way up the river to the most likely location where we felt that she would be, which is where Jess, her owner had fallen a week ago. We had the thermal equipment and she came up on the screen glowing red hot," said pilot Matt Newton. "We were stoked. Yeah, absolutely stoked." Molly was at the base of the waterfall, soaked and shivering among rocks, but quite alive.
Video shows a crew member carrying her to the chopper; on landing, Molly sprinted to Johnston, who knelt carefully in a cast to hug her. Newton believes the dog survived by hunting small animals and says she was playing fetch at the base soon after rescue. Johnston later wrote that with Molly back home, the pair can now file the ordeal under "adventure." "I'm absolutely blown away with the support ... from the kindest of strangers," she wrote on Facebook. "Thank you for helping bring my Molly back home." Says Newton, "I think she'll heal a lot better having the dog by her side."