Muffin Beattie

Dog lost during crash on I-10 reunited with owner 

By Tyana Williams

Posted: Jan 03, 2013

IBERVILLE PARISH, LA (WAFB) - They finished their holiday celebrations and left Alabama bound for Houston on Interstate-10. But an accident changed the travels for the Beattie family and had them searching for another family member. Thanks to social networking, friends were able to reunite the family.

It was around 2 p.m. on Wednesday when Danielle Beattie and her brother were westbound on I-10. The roads, slick from rains. The drive had been okay, until they crossed over the bridge near mile marker 139, near Grosse Tete.

"The next thing I know my brother is saying 'Whoa Danielle stop!'," Beattie said. "As fast as he said that I see a stopped semi in front of me. There was a long line of backed up cars in the other lane...I tried hitting my breaks, but the roads were wet. We backed right into him."

Danielle's car slammed into the back of the semi and filled with smoke. When she tried to get out, she couldn't walk. One of her feet was broken. On her other foot, her toes were broken. But she says it was not her injuries that had her worried.

Her dog, Muffin, ran hit the windshield and ran out of the car and into the woods.

Friends in Texas posted Muffin's picture on the Lost Pets of Baton Rouge Facebook page. Others started calling shelters once they heard the dog was lost.

Sometime after the accident was cleared, a passing driver saw a dog near the road and called the Iberville Parish Animal Control. Muffin had returned to the scene and was waiting for her owner.

The animal control office had managed to track Danielle down.

Thursday afternoon, Danielle arrived at the animal control office in a wheelchair. And as soon as she saw Muffin, tears spilled down her cheeks.

"My Muffy Muff...Hi my baby," she cooed, after Muffin was placed in her arms. "Animals, they're just a dog or whatever. She's more than just a dog to me. I really didn't think I was going to get her back."

Danielle says she was going to return to the scene of the accident Thursday to look for her dog. That was before she got the call from animal control.

Muffin also has an injured foot. 

"We came out of something that rarely anybody has a chance to come out of, with minimal injuries. I'm just so thankful."

Source: http://www.wafb.com/story/20498876/dog-lost-on-interstate-10-reunited-with-owner