Golden retriever disappears after seizure – but community rallies together to find him

When a family’s beloved golden retriever went missing, an entire community rallied around to being the 14-year-old pet home.

Jane Albrecht, who lives on Lopez Island in America’ s pacific Northwest, became concerned after her elderly dog Sage wandered off on January 23 after suffering a seizure.

The dog has a number of health issues – such as an enlarged heart and arthritis as well as the seizure-causing condition – and needs a lot of care.

She put an alert on her Facebook page which read: “LOST DOG!! My Golden Retriever Sage is missing!” in the hope that locals in in San Juan County, Washington State, would keep a look-out for him.

“He became disoriented after a seizure Friday night and disappeared from our home near Richardson on the south end of Lopez. He is a friendly 14-year-old Golden in good physical condition but deaf,” June wrote.

Several neighbours from the small community of just over 2,000 got involved in the search for Sage. They used cars and even a drone to explore remote areas where he might have got himself stuck.

One young local, aged just six, volunteered to explore a narrow tunnel, assuring his mum “I can fit”.

It took five long days but eventually Sage was spotted. He had wandered into an isolated cove and couldn’t climb back to the steep path to escape.

In a daring river rescue, locals used a kayak to get the wandering dog back where he belonged.

Sage had a check-up from the vet and is now at home recuperating and getting some much-needed TLC.

Jane shared a couple of videos showing that the prodigal pooch is now eating and walking around on his own again, and looks well on the road to recovery.