Bella, chow-GSD mix

Rescued dog reunited with her owners
Associated Press
March 9, 2009

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Days after being pulled from an ice-covered lake, a 10-year-old dog missing for two weeks is back in the warmth of her owner's home.

Bella the wayward Chow-German shepherd mix was reunited Friday with her family, three days after her rescue from Lake Lemon. She found her water bowl and food dish where they have always been, even though owner Hannah Shuler feared her 50-pound mutt might be dead.

"I didn't have the heart to put it away after she was gone," Shuler said.

Bella was rescued Tuesday from ice and mud about 200 feet from shore on Lake Lemon near Bloomington. Monroe County animal control officials used a boat to pull her to safety after the dog spent about 10 hours in the lake's icy waters. The canine was taken to a veterinarian for treatment of hypothermia.

When her photograph appeared on the front page of Friday's editions of The Herald-Times, Shuler's partner, Boyd McGinnis, spotted Bella's familiar brown muzzle. The dog had an intravenous line in her foreleg and an apprehensive look on her face.

While Shuler had given up on seeing Bella again, her daughter, Ramona, had remained optimistic.

"She believed that people might have found her and that she was saved," Shuler said. "And as it turns out, Ramona was right."

When Shuler and her daughter arrived home Friday, Bella was waiting inside by the door.

"She seems disoriented, and is kind of pacing around back and forth," Shuler said.

She said Bella had vanished two weeks ago after being let outside following a trip to the vet for breathing problems. She feared Bella might have gone off to die because Bella didn't seem much better after receiving some medicine.

Source: http://pets.kansascity.com/article/4656&pt=Rescued-dog-reunited-with-her-owners