An Australian cattle dog named Sophie has lived through a
harrowing experience that has her owners marveling over the powers of
adaptability and unconditional love. Last November, Sophie fell overboard while
on a family sailing trip off the coast of Australia. After more than an hour of searching, her owners sorrowfully
resigned themselves to Sophie’s death by drowning or sharks.
But four months later, they learned that rangers on the
remote island of St. Bee had captured a seemingly wild
dog. The dog, who was surviving off of baby goats, had become so ferocious that it took several months for rangers to capture her. They carried
the caged dog to the Australian mainland, where Sophie’s owners were eagerly
waiting to see if she was their lost pet. And sure enough, as soon as
they called to her, the snarling wild beast turned back into loving Sophie,
whimpering and running to lick and cuddle her family.
Animal experts are amazed at Sophie’s adaptability. Though
she had been a house pet all her life, she managed to swim five nautical miles
to shore and then survive in a harsh climate home mainly to koala bears.
And her transition back to home life has been just as
impressive. After four months of not allowing any humans to come near her,
Sophie immediately resumed her old life of eating food from a can and sleeping happily on the family bed.
Photo: MSNBC
