Heroic Puppy Saves Girl Lost In Siberia For 11 Days

Karina Chikitova, a girl of approximately 3-years-old, was lost in the Siberian Taiga.

For the first 3 days she was missing, her mother didn’t realize there was any problem. The woman was under the impression that the girl and her puppy made it to her father’s village in the Sakha Republic. In that region, there are no phones and the mother and father had no way to contact each other.

When it became apparent that the girl and her puppy had gotten lost, Russian authorities began a search of the area. 60 men, equipped as well as could be, couldn’t find the lost little girl. Eventually, however, her puppy returned to the area. At first, it was seen as a bad sign. Her parents were convinced the puppy wouldn’t just leave her if she were alive.

Afanasiy Nikolayev of the Sakha Republic Rescue Service told the Siberian Times:

“Our hearts truly and deeply sank. If she was to hug her puppy, we thought, this would have given her a chance to stay warm during nights and survive. So when her dog came back we thought ‘that’s it.’ In the morning, almost right after we began searches – we only made 20 metres – we saw Karina sitting in the grass. We rushed to her, got her a little tea and grabbed her to run back to the car and doctors. I carried Karina myself to the car, and she was light as a bird. She was hardly ten kilograms – but amazingly she was fully conscious.”

The puppy returned after the girl had already been lost for 9 days, but he only left to get her help. During the next two days, the puppy led rescuers to the girl.

Above is the video coverage of the lost girl’s rescue.

The girl managed to stay alive by eating insects and berries and drinking from the river. During the freezing nights, she was able to keep warm by keeping the puppy close. When she was found, she was in surprisingly good condition, only suffering from dehydration and minor injuries. She was conscious and mostly alert.

The girl was brought to the nearest hospital and is recovering. She has been reunited with her family.

There’s no doubt that the girl’s puppy saved her life. The name and breed of the heroic puppy have not been released, but if it is the dog at the 1:45 point in the video, it is a German Shepherd.

[ Image courtesy of RT Network ]