By Rachel Brougham News-Review Staff Writer
2:40 PM EDT, September 21, 2010
Instead, he spent nearly two weeks living an emotional roller coaster.
The cabin, which is about 20 minutes outside Sault Ste. Marie, can be reached only by foot or by boat.
While Hull worked to get his oldest dog, Bailey, fitted with a life vest for the boat ride, the three other dogs, Hunter, Murphy and Kia, ran off.
"It's really not unusual for them to run off into the woods to investigate, so I didn't think much of it at first," Hull said. "But when we arrived at the cabin and they weren't there, I started to get a bit nervous."
Hull went out in search of tracks. But it was already 3 p.m., and would soon get dark, and there had been reports of bears and wolf packs in the area.
So at 7 a.m. the next morning, he began looking again.
He soon found Hunter, but there was still no sign of Murphy and Kia.
For the next two days, from dusk until dawn, Hull searched for the two dogs with no luck.
He and his wife, Peggy, made flyers with pictures of Murphy and Kia, and distributed them around town.
"It was Monday, and I had to get back for work," Hull said. "It was heartbreaking. It was tough for me to leave since these guys are everything to me."
After taking care of some business back in Petoskey, Hull returned to the cabin the next day.
Since there wasn't cell reception in the woods, he needed to drive the 20 minutes into Sault Ste. Marie each day to check messages and call family.
"I was so torn on what to do since I worried the dogs would come back to the cabin when I wasn't there," Hull said. "But then I would get into town and I would have messages that someone had spotted one or both of the dogs so it became really difficult."
A week after the dogs went missing, Hull was driving into town to check messages when a car drove up behind him and began honking.
"The Browns who live nearby, said they had heard a dog barking on a nearby mountain," Hull said.
Hull headed to the nearby mountain but didn't find any sign of Murphy or Kia.
On his way back to the cabin, Hull again ran into the Browns. Craig Brown told him that Murphy was safe.
Michelle Fitton, a local resident, had found Murphy.
Fitton heard about the missing dogs, and decided to put together some food and medical supplies and go out in search of them on her own.
She had found Murphy, trapped, on a narrow ledge of a mountain.
Fitton tossed him food and tried to calm him down. She then tied some dog leashes to a tree and lowered herself down. She attached the leashes to Murphy and was able to pull the 80 pound dog to safety.
"I didn't even want to go up there, it's so high," Hull said of the cliff. "I was just in awe that she would do that for a stranger."
But the celebration was short-lived. Kia was still missing.
"Nobody had seen Kia and I was just terrified something had happened to her. As difficult as it was, we had to return home," Hull said.
Two days later, back in Petoskey, Hull received a phone call.
The Browns had spotted Kia near their house.
Before Hull was even able to get in the car, the Browns called back and said they had captured her.
"I just couldn't believe it. It was 11 days that she was out there. I was just full of emotion," Hull said.
Despite some minor scratches and a little weight loss, none of the dogs was injured.
Hull has kept in close contact with those who helped in the search, all of which were strangers before, but Hull now thinks of them as family.
"These people were just so generous and supportive, I owe them so much," Hull said. "This is probably the hardest thing I've ever been through -- having a pet run off is just a devastating feeling. I loved them dearly before, but they are even more precious to me now."
Source: http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/pnr-community-hull-092110,0,2333973.story
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