SILVERTON, Colo. — When July 4 fireworks exploded over a campsite on the Animas River south of Silverton, Konni the Belgian Malinois’ puppy legs hit the trail.
Her unsought freedom may have killed her if not for the kindness of strangers.
Konni was raised a lady, dependent on a daily diet of kibble and an air-conditioned Phoenix apartment.
But for two weeks, she was lost in the rocky San Juan Mountains, sometimes covering four miles per day, almost coyote-like except for her wide pink collar.
A core group of five searchers believed that Konni survived on a banquet of road kill, rodents and strategically placed metal bowls with just enough dog food to tease her but not enough to keep her full.
As first reported by the Durango Herald, the locals put up dozens of signs with her picture on it, trail cameras that tracked her movements at nearly 11,000 feet, mapped her movements and set out a cage with a pressure floor designed to trap her.
> Read the full story at the Denver Gazette.
