With the recent eruption of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii, many residents have lost their homes, keepsakes…and even pets, with one of those being Carol Hosley.
Nearly two weeks ago, Hosley was awakened in the middle of the night by fireman telling her she must evacuate the area, as lava from a nearby vent was spewing out, along with sulfur dioxide gas and ash rain.
While packing her things, her one rescue dog, a jack russell-pug mix named Brus, who has nervous tendencies, became terrified around the men. Before she had the opportunity to secure him in her home, so she could take him with her, Brus escaped out the door. Hosely’s other dog, Little Dude, a black terrier mix, followed.
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The firemen were in a hurry to get Hosely, who is in her 70s, to safety and wouldn’t wait for the dogs to return.
But Daylynn Kyles, the president of Aloha Ilio Rescue, the organization who adopted Brus to Hosley, wasn’t having it.
When she heard one of her rescue dogs was lost, along with his friend, she, and other volunteers, went searching for them – despite it being a dangerous. Indeed, lava was still spewing, trees were down, cracks in the road and the area was eerily desolate.
But that didn’t stop them. One of the first things they attempted to do was set a trap for Brus by using a crate with food in it. It worked…kind of.
“We left a crate and food for him. There are fresh footprints, his size, on Luana Street in the mud,” Aloha Ilio Rescue posted on its Facebook page. “If you see him PM us. Women only. He is terrified of life as it is … men sends him over the top.”
When neither dog was either seen or heard from in the days to follow, many presumed they were dead. But Klyes and team continued to search.
On Sunday, they spotted the two.
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“They were stuck behind a fence, and couldn’t get out because of the lava that surrounded them. It was crazy,” Kyles told Hawaii News Now. “We just knew this dog was probably just terrified.”
The team, all female, used machetes to hack through the weeds and brush to get to the pair.
After rescuing them, they reunited the two with their mom.
“I’m just thrilled to death, I just couldn’t be happier,” Hosley told the outlet. “The other stuff is stuff, but I got the dogs.”
While Hosely works on getting back on her feet, the two dogs are with Aloha Ilio Rescue.
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