Alan Whitton, a 49-year-old man from Woodford Green, Redbridge, was shocked when his missing dog Mitzi was rescued from a foxhole after days of searching. Mitzi, a Jack Russell, joined Alan’s family last year after his previous dog Tinker died.
Tragically, on the first anniversary of their family addition, Mitzi disappeared during a morning walk after being chased by another dog. Despite Alan’s efforts all day to find her, he was forced to go home without her. The family left behind scented toys and food, but still couldn’t find Mitzi. Alan couldn’t sleep and feared Mitzi would die in the cold, describing the experience as “hell.”
“I burst into tears with everyone I talked to about Mitza,” the heartbroken man said. – I missed her a lot.
The next day, Alan returned to the area with his friends, determined to search the woods for signs of Mitzi. Despite their best efforts, ten hours later they were still searching for the missing Mitzi. In light of this discovery, Alan distributed flyers about the missing dogs, which his wife sent to local households to gather information.
Despite another night of worry and anxiety, Alan reluctantly accepted the possibility that he would never find Mitzi. That is, until he got a call from a dog walker friend who lived on the edge of the woods. A woman reported that her dog was sniffing a foxhole. Alan immediately dropped everything and rushed to the location where the latest information indicated Mitzi was.
He used one of Mitza’s favorite toys to lure her near the entrance of the hole and heard soft voices. Not having a shovel, the woman who invited him lent him one and he began to dig. Alan determinedly managed to pull Mitzi out of the hole by holding onto her collar. He captured this emotional moment on his camera and shared it on Facebook.
Alan said it was just a true Christmas miracle for him, even though he was losing hope. All this seemed like a nightmare to Alan. But in the end, joy and incredible happiness were the only feelings that flooded him.