BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A Kentucky family who lost their dog while on an ATV ride in southern West Virginia earlier this month is crediting West Virginians for finding it.
Brooke Hollbrooke, of Fort Thomas, Ky., said she was holding Teddy, her 8-month-old Australian Labradoodle, while riding on the Hatfield-McCoy Pocahontas Trail System in Bluefield when the ATV she was on flipped on its side. Teddy ran off before she could realize what happened.
“As we recovered from things, no one was hurt, but Teddy was gone,” she said. “My first instinct was that he was under the ATV or that he had been severely injured.”
Teddy disappeared during Hollbrooke’s trip to West Virginia over Labor Day weekend on Sept. 2. The family launched an extensive search for Teddy by posting flyers and knocking on doors. Hollbrooke, along with her husband and kids, had to head back to Kentucky for the start of the new school year. What happened next shocked her. She said local residents in the area continued to search for Teddy and provide updates.
“I kept thinking ‘I’m surprised all these people care about our dog.’ All these people that we met were clearly just strangers before who were helping us with Teddy and said ‘We’re not giving up. That’s not what we do in West Virginia. We’re going to find this dog’,” she recalled.
Teddy had been missing for several days and Hollbrooke was starting to lose hope that he would never be found. Surviving off dog food left outside homes, Teddy was able to get by and was spotted several times but would run off out of fear.
“He was hanging out in the trails and then he would exit to go get food and then travel back. He was traveling over all this brush. It was just unbelievable and amazing that he was able to survive,” she said.
Hollbrooke said it wasn’t until 10 days later Teddy was located in a crawl space of a home miles away from the trail he ran away from.
“He still had on his WVU collar, he had his leash attached and he still had his riding goggles around his neck,” she said.
Sean Campion, Anthony Madonia, J.J. Tindall, and another Mercer County resident lead the search efforts and had been in touch with the Holbrooks. When Teddy was found, they arranged to meet up halfway between West Virginia and Kentucky to reunite the dog with his family.
“It was such an emotional week thinking he was gone to then being reunited was unbelievable,” she said.
Hollbrooke said Teddy is now in good spirits. He’s lost some weight, understandably, but the vet found no signs of injuries. She said she’ll forever be thankful for West Virginians who don’t just “say” they care, they go the extra mile to prove it.
“We had people when we were down there searching bringing us pizzas to feed us. It was just beyond support which is just so heartwarming in this day in age to see a community join together really for the good of finding Teddy,” she said.