As he states, the dog completed 6 14ers before. A large percentage of the climbing community brings dogs with them. It is not uncommon.
As the climbing community harps on all the time, when weather rolls in then get off the mountain.
The Sawtooth is a tricky trail section that is between 13,000 and 14,000 feet. It is not the place to be when weather is rolling in. So, the decision to get down was the correct one. Lightening is the number one fear at that altitude because you are entirely exposed. Treeline is probably 1000 to 2000 feet below you. There is no place to hunker down. You are entirely exposed. If you get through the Sawtooth, it is not a bad hike to the parking lot on Mt. Evans at ~14,000 feet. But, if you can't get through it, you have to go back or down some steep terrain.
And yes, dogs have made it through this section.
More posts:
Re: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt!
by klinger » Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:54 am
WOW just...wow... happy endings...some harsh lessons here....no doubt some to be taught by some angry 14erites...this website wants to keep your dog.Top
aortolani14
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Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:05 amReport this postReply with quoteRe: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt!
by aortolani14 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:01 am
I am sitting here refreshing the screen over and over waiting for people to wake. I am very certain that I have quite the s**t storm coming. But I have to take the good with the bad, with something this good there is a lot of bad I suppose. They can say what ever they want, I will read and learn from every single word. It was my arrogance that put Missy in that situation. I don’t ever want to do anything that could possibly risk her life again. I can’t wait to hike with her again, but I will never put her in danger again.Top
AlexMack
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Location: Grand Junction, COReport this postReply with quoteRe: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt!
by AlexMack » Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:06 am
Yeah I’m pretty much refreshing this at work, this is going to get amusing in a couple of hours. I give you giant balls points for coming out here. Welcome to 14ers.com, we like your dog.”Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.” - Evan HardinTop
aortolani14
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Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2012 4:05 amReport this postReply with quoteRe: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt!
by aortolani14 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 6:17 am
AlexMack wrote:
Yeah I’m pretty much refreshing this at work, this is going to get amusing in a couple of hours. I give you giant balls points for coming out here. Welcome to 14ers.com, we like your dog.
Thank you for the support. I’ll take the lashings. I’m just happy she’s okay. This is all so crazy. Missy is an amazing girl. She was born in New York and lived there for three years. She’s been here with me now for two years. She is very well trained and extremely loving and protecting. She is by far the most amazing dog I have ever had the privilege to own. I’m just so thankful right now. I want to see her so badly. This is very much a back from the grave thing right now, I really thought she was gone. I checked the forums here to see if there was any news and I Googled “Dog found on Bierstadt” for a few days after, but I didn’t see anything. I wish I would’ve posted something. Now I am just glad someone else did.
A large percentage of the climbing community brings dogs with them. It is not uncommon.”
There is special gear, like booties, for dogs who go climbing with their owners. This dog had none.
Why didn’t he do what the strangers did to get the dog down if he loved it so much?
There’s no way in hell I would have done this to my dog.
I don’t care how many times he said he took the dog with him in the past. The guy deserves to be charged with animal cruelty and lose his dog to someone who will take better care.
Dog 13,300.
Less than 2,000 ft.
It's still unclear why a rescue couldn't have been made from the road up Mt. Evans.
Nor is it clear how the gov't could charge the B0z0 with animal cruelty when the gov't wouldn't help to rescue the dog after notification of the situation.
The b0z0 who NEVER went back to recover the dog has no claim to same now.
I wonder why the distraught owner did not go back to rescue the GSD.
It is fortunate for you that we have many perfect individuals here who will tell you exactly what you did wrong, and what they would have done were they in your shoes. Read and learn.
This is a George Zimmerman type of prosecution. So called dog lovers pushing for prosecution based on little to no information. All they consider is the headline.
HE ABANDONED HIS DOG!!! Oh my God, let’s hang him...
If I were a dog, I don’t think I’d wanna be rescued from Mount Beer State!
Are you Anthony Ortolani by any chance?
Hiker climbs 13,000ft to rescue Missy the German Shepherd after owner left it to die
(picture from ABC News not dailymail.co.uk)
I would say that the owner of the dog was careless in not considering the limitations of the dog’s conditions when they went out.
I can understand leaving the dog behind, out of necessity, because it’s not going to do anybody good to have have both dog and owner dead.
“She depends on me to make smart choices, and taking her into the sawtooth was beyond foolish.”
No kidding.
This sounds like a tough area, and I am surprised he brought the dog at all.
This person sounds like someone who makes a mess, and depends on “OPs” (other people) to clean it up for him.
Why was he surprised that S&R is for people only?
Sheesh.
I’ll bet Ortolani never served in the Infantry.
You never leave a member of the unit behind unless they’re dead, missing, etc. and it is tactically impossible to retrieve the.
Then, when tactical conditions allow (or you impose your will on those conditions), you return, search for them, and bring them out if possible.
Had to do this and it is considered duty.
I look on craigslist and see any number of people trying to find a home for their dog because they are moving, the dog needs more ‘attention’ or whatever.
Moving? The dog is part of the unit. Where the unit goes, they go.
Really simple.
Do you live in that little sh!t town at the base of the Hoosier Pass with the strictly enforced 30MPH speed limit?
Not making any judgements...just asking.
Re: Dog Found: Mt. Bierstadt!
Postby HuskyRunner » 14 Aug 2012, 10:55
Forgive me if I seem extremely harsh here but I find the claims that Anthony is a responsible dog lover to be dubious. Missy was at 100 pounds yesterday when we carried her off the mountain after losing 10% of her body weight spending eight days laying alone in a talus field ~ 12,500 feet with him taking virtually no action to save, by his own admission he left her there to die. At the time he took her up the Sawtooth Missy was possibly 20 to 30 pounds overweight, experience with over 10 years in Dog Rescue and caring for 100+ dogs tells me Missy should ideally weigh around 80 pounds. Missy’s nails were a bit on the long side and given her highly damaged pads she obviously was not used to walking the given terrain. To me he didn’t have his dog’s health in mind by letting her get fat, didn’t have his dog’s health and well being in mind when he decided to take her on a 3rd class route she obviously wasn’t in condition to do, and finally didn’t have his dog’s welfare in mind when he left her there to die.
Talking to Alpine Rescue after we got back one of the members told me of an incident they were involved in at Herman Lake. Alpine Rescue was called to evacuate a St. Bernard from the lake after it had broken it’s spine and the owner refused to leave the area for days to stay with his hurt dog. Staying by your injured dog and giving it what comfort and care you can is responsible ownership.
Years ago while mountain biking with one of our dogs I went over the handle bars and shattered my wrist. Despite being in pain one of my first actions was to put my dog an leash so she would be safe on the 6 mile walk back to the car. Keeping your dog’s welfare in mind despite other concerns is responsible ownership.
Plenty of responders to this forum have commented on being prepared when hiking with your dog by carrying booties, pain meds, (aspirin), water, and any other needs your animal may have, good advice and responsible dog ownership. We put booties on Missy when we got to her and given that despite still having bleeding pads she was trotting down half the mountain without too much difficulty. Even after eight days starving in an alpine environment all she needed was a little help and care in getting her off the mountain. Had she been carried down to Abyss Lake, given some aspirin and dog booties I believe she could have gotten out via Scott Gomer and Burning Bear rather than being left to die.
We actually discussed evacuating Missy via Scott Gomer but discounted believing she was in worse condition that she really was. We took her out of the backpack because she was squirming and wanted her to stretch a little after being cramped for several hours. We were quite pleasantly surprised to see how well she got around on her own. I’ve had plenty of occasions where one of my own dogs got relief from a cut pad with just some pain med and a bootie, I’m fairly certain that eight days ago Missy could have gotten out with just a little bit of care, yet you carried her down a little bit and then left her to die.
The spot we found Missy was several hundred feet below the crossover on the Sawtooth, 1000 ft below the summit of Bierstadt, a spot that wasn’t terribly likely to experience a lighting strike, sure, possible but likely. Having two people one of you could have easily stayed with Missy while the other went for help, sure, burning bear was 8 miles from where you were but a little walk is better than leaving your dog to die alone on a mountain side.
It was mentioned that some hunters gave you directions, did you consider asking them for help in getting Missy down?
Even in the event that I couldn’t carry out one of my own dogs (unlikely because I have always considered being forced to prior to any trip) I would have attempted to enlist family, friends, acquaintances, hired help, whatever it took to get my dog back home. I would never have left my beloved friend and companion to die alone on a cold hillside. That eight total strangers were more willing than you to hike a short 4 miles in crappy weather to rescue a dog we didn’t even know speaks volumes to me about your lack of commitment to care for Missy.
Given that you didn’t take Missy’s welfare in mind before taking her into the mountains, weren’t willing to stay with her during her ordeal, didn’t go back to provide her some comfort or attempt to get her out yourself (blisters, give me a freaking break), and apparently didn’t do much of anything to save your dog prior to yesterday leaves me to say the following: You’ll get Missy back when you pry her out of my cold dead hands!
BTW, I don’t have her and do not know where she is at the moment.
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!
Each person on one side of a room, and the dog in the middle.
The dog goes to the person he chooses.
-PJ
Missy wouldn’t have abandoned you on the trail!
He should be freaking HAPPY that she's alive, GRATEFUL to God, and THANKFUL for her new master. Period.
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