MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A dog named Moose who has been on the loose for several days after a violent crash on busy Interstate 95 has finally been reunited with his owners, thanks to the help of some South Florida firefighters.
The nasty wreck Saturday caused Debbie Dawson’s SUV to roll over.
Her beloved 15-month-old black Labrador retriever named Moose escaped from a shattered window.
“He ran off,” said Dawson. “He was petrified and scared.”
She was leaving southwest Miami-Dade, where her mom lives, on her way home to Jacksonville.
According to Dawson, another driver crossed into her lane near the Cypress Creek Boulevard exit.
“The crash happened, I blacked out,” she said.
Dawson’s husband Corey was on FaceTime as she was loaded into a stretcher, still focused on her missing dog.
“I wasn’t thinking about myself, I just kept thinking about him,” she said.
Their son soon started a social media blitz, hoping to find Moose.
“We started posting them on Facebook groups, mostly in the Broward County area,” said Dawson.
Eventually, first responders with Oakland Park Fire Rescue, who had been searching in their off time, spotted Moose on Tuesday in the woods, about a mile and a half from the crash site.
He had been fending for himself for nearly four days.
“He was still a little shocked and confused, but he came right over to me,” said Dawson. “They promised me that they would find him and they did. I cannot thank them enough for all their work and hard effort and not giving up.”
The family wants to give special thanks to Oakland Park Fire Rescue House No. 20 and firefighter Steve Smith, Battalion Chief Monica Maldonado and retired Capt. Dan Debrecht.