A good Samaritan was trekking along a narrow, slippery trail on Lookout Mountain in Phoenix, Arizona, completely immersed in his hike. Suddenly, something caught his attention. About half a mile up the mountain, slightly off the beaten path, he noticed a flash of light reflecting off a pair of amber eyes, startling him with their unexpected presence.
The eyes belonged to a very scared dog curled up in a small hole in the side of the mountain. She was completely blended into her surroundings, and if she didn’t have such sharp eyes, the hiker might not have noticed her. She had no idea how she had managed to get there, but it was clear that she had been trapped for a while and might not last much longer.
The good Samaritan quickly contacted the Arizona Humane Society (AHS), which sent two emergency animal medicine technicians, Tracey Miiller and Ruthie Jesus, to help while he waited with the dog until they arrived. The dog was definitely scared but seemed willing to get help.
“This good Samaritan waited probably almost two hours, and then we found this amazing dog, which by the way is literally the same color as the dirt,” Jesus said in a news release. “She blends in so much, the complainant told us he wanted to call her Bright Eyes because when he walked past her, all he saw were her bright amber eyes staring back at him.”
After a quick and careful assessment on the side of the mountain, technicians determined that Bright Eyes was dangerously dehydrated, with severed paws and a wound on her rear end.
“She was very sweet and would let me pet her head, but she absolutely didn’t want to come out of that hiding place, so I had to force her out a little bit,” Jesus said.
She was definitely too weak to walk with her rescuers up the mountain, so the technicians took turns carrying her until they reached the ambulance. Bright Eyes was calm the entire time, so grateful to finally be safe.
“Actually, she just relaxed and seemed to enjoy being carried up the mountain,” Jesus said. “But it was a very small, slippery rocky trail, so Tracey and I took turns taking her up the mountain, and she was just an absolute angel. “I knew we were taking her to a safe place.”
It’s still a mystery how or why Bright Eyes ended up on the mountain in the first place, but the important thing is that someone found her and she’s now getting the care she needs.
“We were so elated to be able to get it out,” Jesus said. “I was so dehydrated. “I think he had probably been up there for several days and that was probably his last day, and this good Samaritan really saved his life.”
