Blind, 13-year-old dog with cancer survives 5 nights in bitter cold huddled in neighbor’s window well

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — A blind 13-year-old dog that has cancer was found covered in snow and barely able to move after he spent five nights outside in the bitter cold, huddled in a window well of a neighbor’s home in eastern Minnesota.

Patsy Sumpter told KARE-TV that it was a miracle her goldendoodle, Buddy, was discovered alive, saying he probably wouldn’t have survived another night.

Sumpter said she let Buddy outside her Eden Prairie home Wednesday night, but he never returned.

“Normally, he goes down in the woods and he comes back,” she said. “And he didn’t come back. And I kept calling and calling.”

She called all Wednesday evening and searched all day Thursday as the weather deteriorated.

Buddy is 13 years old, blind and has cancer… but the Golden Doodle’s will to live helped him survive 5 days trapped in a window well during a subzero snap. https://t.co/7GjiaC5jzG pic.twitter.com/7wqcXBSTWW

— KARE 11 (@kare11) January 17, 2018

“It snowed that next morning and it just got worse and worse, and I just felt so helpless,” she said. Sumpter didn’t realize that Buddy was still close to home.

“He probably heard me yelling and he couldn’t get out,” she said.

Monday, neighbor Emily Raguse went down to her basement and something in a window well caught her eye. There was a dog curled up and covered in snow.

“I couldn’t even believe my eyes,” she said. “He was really, really lethargic, so he pretty much was only moving his head a little bit.

“I grabbed a towel from the house to put on top of him because he was obviously cold. He was shivering.”

WIth the dog covered in the towel, she waited until police arrived and lifted him from the window well.

Buddy was finally reunited with Sumpter thanks to the phone number on his name tag.

After spending a harrowing few days in frigid weather, Buddy is soaking up the warmth of a fire under a blanket. He’s scheduled to go to the vet for a check-up Wednesday, Sumpter said.

“He didn’t want to die there I guess,” she said. “He wanted to come home and be with us.”