Dog rescued on Mt. Bierstadt - More Details

14ers.com ^ | 8-14-12 | Anthony Ortolani

[AlmaKing]

Re: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt! by aortolani14 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:34 am

Hi all,

I am the owner of the German Shepard girl found on Mt. Bierstadt.

I need to know the name of the vet clinic that Missy is at so I can go see her and re-reimburse them for helping her, and if I am fortunate enough, to bring her home.

I am at a complete loss of words. My gratitude for the people involved in this is without measure.

Missy was hurt during an attempt at crossing the Sawtooth. It was Missy, a friend and I. Her paws got bloodied up right in the belly of the sawtooth. I was assisting her with the climb using ropes and a harness for a while but she kept getting hurt worse. A few kind hikers stopped and offered some assistance but incoming weather pushed people off of the saddle. My friend and I realized that we could not get Missy up the saddle to Evans or Bierstadt safely so we decided to bail off of the saddle into the valley between the two mountains to escape the incoming clouds. We were lowering her for a while with ropes from boulder to boulder but she was hurting herself worse against the rocks sprawling out and catching them with her legs. Eventually she just stopped standing or moving at all and I knew she was pretty badly hurt. I picked her up on my shoulders and was hopping from boulder to boulder but I couldn't keep her on me. I dropped her once and I almost fell once too and I realized that I couldn't carry her off of the mountain. At this point I made the decision that I honestly never thought I would even be faced with. I left her there so that my friend and I could get down safely with intentions of calling S&R when we were off of the mountian. We both spent about two hours trying to move her up and down the mountain and were pretty exhausted. Neither one of us wanted to hike up the saddle with the cloud cover growing so we continued down into the valley and hiked back to Guanella Pass Rd. It was a lot farther than we thought it would be, and we got lost several times. A group of hunters showed us the way out and gave us a ride back to our car. Thank you to them as well.

I called the 911, the sheriffs office and search and rescue and I was told that it was to risky for them to send rescue crew up there for a dog, which was upsetting but understandable. I'll admit that while trying to get off of the the mountain I was not as concerned because I was focused on making it safely off of the mountain, but once I was safely at my car I was overwhelmed with the loss, and the decision to leave her there. The next couple of days was absolutely horrible wondering about her, if she was alive, or if she died. Thinking about her suffering was awful beyond words. Many confidants comforted me by saying that she was probably gone from injury. All I can say is that I am relieved that she is okay, I am ashamed that it was not me that started this thread, I am ashamed that it wasn't me who got her off of the mountain, I underestimated the good will and resolve of the hiking community of Colorado, and I am eternally grateful to all of you and to 9news. I humbly beg the forgiveness of the community and most of all my Missy Girl. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.Top --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

aortolani14 ProfilePrivate messageE-mail aortolani1414er Peak List Not Entered Posts: 20 Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:05 amReport this postReply with quoteRe: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt! by aortolani14 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:13 am

I am reading through all of these threads, and I am just in awe of how heroic and amazing everyone is that did this. I also see all of the anger and hatred towards me and the decision that I made. I feel that I deserve it all. I made it in a panic to be sure, and what I felt was a survival situation. I didn't think to post on 14er's.com to ask for everyone to come fix my colossal mistake in judgement. It is truly amazing that all of you did it on your own. I don't have proper words. It was several days before I would have even been able to even think of walking back up Bierstadt much less into the sawtooth and to try and carry Missy out, and after that I just thought it would be to late. I honestly never thought that I could just ask strangers to go check the sawtooth and carry my 112lb German Shepard out. I don't know what to say. Thank you again to the community, and to those who are angry I am so so sorry. Missy has done 6 14'ers and she loves being out there in the mountains. She depends on me to make smart choices, and taking her into the sawtooth was beyond foolish.

[Cowgirl of Justice]

She was WAITING for him to come back and he NEVER did. No food, no water.

She never would have left him.

He needs to let her go. Again. And live with what he has done.

[floralamiss]

RegulatorCountry, I appreciate your excellent observations and commentary, and I wholeheartedly agree.

[Salamander]

Well, isn’t this nice EXPANDED, heart rending, suddenly very detailed, melodramatic and poetic account of the original story?

Disney should buy the rights to it.

I call BS.

He’s knows he’s crap and is back-pedaling like hell.

What happened to the “poor kid” he was so worried about, for whom he ‘sacrificed’ his dog?

Now the ‘poor kid’ was humping the dog up and down the mountain with ropes and pulleys?

And where was he the 8 days afterwards?

I hope smart people keep “his” dog.

[anybody here ever watch “Eight Below”? It was based on a true story and that guy didn’t rest until he found his 7 surviving dogs..in the freaking Antarctic!]

[Salamander]

All I’ve got is a sudden “new version” of the “story”.

Not buying it.

[And Biden really didn’t mean “chains”]

Back pedal.

[Salamander]

He’s suddenly, globally infamous and realizes his ass is in a sling.

So, after doing nothing useful for all that time, he pens a sad fairy tale.

Yeah.

We’re stupid enough to buy it.

[floralamiss]

Good master and strong, handsome, happy Jack Russells.

[DefeatCorruption]

Eaker - I’m with YOU. Thanks.

[Salamander]

The original version, without out the repentant “sack cloth and ashes” BS added in:

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/man-faces-animal-cruelty-charge-abandoning-dog-colorado-230459473—abc-news-topstories.html

[Salamander]

The bigger question is, why are *you* so determined to defend him?

I find that very...interesting.

[floralamiss]

When I read your word, “pack”, it brought tears to my eyes. My “H-pack” was large and happy, and now they are hiking “a path too far”. Maybe it’s time I form a new one. :-(

[Salamander]

Makes ya wonder.

And there’s this:

---

If Tears Could Build A Stairway

Author: Unknown

If tears could build a stairway,
and memories a lane.
I would walk right up to Heaven
and bring you back again.

No farewell words were spoken,
No time to say “Goodbye”.
You were gone before I knew it,
and only God knows why.

My heart still aches with sadness,
and secret tears still flow.
What it meant to love you -
No one can ever know.

But now I know you want me
to mourn for you no more;
To remember all the happy times
life still has much in store.

Since you’ll never be forgotten,
I pledge to you today~
A hollowed place within my heart
is where you’ll always stay.

---

How many of us would gladly build that stairway to have our beloved dogs back?

And this schmuck won’t walk up a friggin’ hill he’s climbed *dozens* of times, already.

[floralamiss]

Thanks for posting HuskyRunner’s comment, Eaker.

[floralamiss]

Bingo, Sal.

[Gene Eric]

Yup.

No doubt the GSD was in search of her owner the entire time. Kinda’ heartbreaking.

I’m not a position to determine with whom Missy should stay, but given GSD loyalty and bonding, it would probably be best for Missy to go back to the original owner as much as it pains me to say that — assuming the original owner doesn’t normally exhibit this kind of negligence.

[floralamiss]

Now, you’ve gone and done it. Missing my “Pack”, tonight.

[Salamander]

I just ended 13 months of helping a dog with degenerative myelopathy up and down and outside to potty, sometimes when I had to literally lift her 80 pound self with the feebleness of my own 100 pound self, [bad discs, arthritis and all] simply because, other than not being able to walk very well, she was happy, bright, alert, ate like a pig, loved her physical & massage therapy necessary to keep her legs limber and had a decent quality of life.

That quality ended on Monday and she let me know.

Thursday night, the vet came and she ‘went out’ even before she got ‘the second shot’.

I -felt- her leave and she slipped from her now-useless shell with such ease.

She knew why the vet was there and for the first time in her 10 year life, she did not fear him.

I spent 3 hours with her before he came, cradling her big goofy-silly head and we shared cheese, memories, love and tears and she was so much stronger and fearless than I was.

I carried that dog for over a year.

If carrying her down one lousy mountain would’ve saved her, I’d have done it, no matter how much it hurt me.

I’m sick of the excuses being made for this bastard.

[CodeToad]

Tough sh*t. He abandoned his dog and strangers went out and got her. He deserves the grief and loss of the dog. He made one rookie mistake after another and keeps making them. I just got back a few minutes ago tonight from that neck of the woods. I’ll unpack the rest of the gear tomorrow and do a gear check. What didn’t that puss have for proper gear that he was so afraid of a summer storm and left his dog to die? He’s an idiot, a liar, a coward, and an ass for leaving his dog to die. No one with half a brain takes a dog to that area without the booties, without proper storm gear for himself and the dog, and without knowledge of the weather for the day. No one, but he did. Now he wants to make himself out as the victim. Piss on him!

[Salamander]

*standing ovation*

[Salamander]

Wow.

Let my friends tell me *my* dog is “probably dead” and see if ~I~ listen to them.

[I’d get new, better friends]

Dude’s just gotta shift the blame every which way *and* loose, doesn’t he?

Now “his friends” kept him from going back for *his* dog?

He has to be a liberal.

They excel at passing the buck and dodging responsibility.

[or he’s Alma...pick one]

[floralamiss]

Oh, Sal, I’m so sorry for your loss. Bless you for taking such good care of your doggie. I know it was love, but still...

What a beautiful way to go, all full of cheese and tears and laughter and resting in the arms of love. Prayers for you and hugs...