Dog helps save owner lost in freezing Oregon woods

On a freezing afternoon on Dec 29 in western Oregon, an 82-year-old woman with dementia disappeared into the woods while walking her dog – a blue heeler cattle dog named Cami.

Hours later, as night fell and temperatures dropped to near freezing, it was Cami that helped search-and-rescue volunteers find Ms Karen Joyce Davis and likely saved her life.

Cami stayed close to her, keeping her warm. When it heard its name being called, she barked.

Ms Davis, a resident of the rural community of Elmira, had gone out walking that day. By evening, she had still not returned.

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office posted a brief, ominous notice on social media: Ms Davis was missing, last seen walking in the woods with her dog.

She was eventually found in rough, steep terrain – her body chilled, and the night closing in.

Search-and-rescue volunteers treated her for hypothermia before she was carefully carried out of the woods and transported to a hospital.

The official update from the Sheriff’s Office was grateful and restrained: “Her dog, Cami, kept her warm and signalled to Lane County Sheriff’s search-and-rescue volunteers as they searched the area.”

It added: “Thanks to area residents and Lane Fire Authority for their assistance on this search, and to Cami for being such a good dog!”

The volunteers were told that Ms Davis has dementia and that Cami rarely barks.

But that did not stop volunteer Katie Sciotto from calling Cami’s name.

“I yelled ‘Cami!’” she told Lookout Eugene-Springfield, a local news outlet. “And very faintly, about 300 yards (274m) away, I heard a dog bark.”

She recalled: “My two searchers and I basically just took off straight towards that bark. We were tripping and falling along the way.”

Ms Sciotto said: “Without Cami, we likely would not have found her, and so the dog really did save her life. The temperature was near freezing, and I don’t know if she would have made it overnight.”

Photographs released by the Sheriff’s Office show the quiet aftermath of the rescue: Cami curled close to Ms Davis, her head resting protectively against her owner as volunteers surrounded them.

In another image, a rescuer pauses to pet the dog.

Other photos show the rescue site – dark, dense woods where visibility is limited and sound carries strangely.

Blue heelers are known for their intelligence and loyalty, traits bred into them through generations of working alongside humans.