Dog News

Dog Keeps 7-Year-Old Company While Lost

by Katherine

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One Feb. 12, 2014, 7-year-old Dominic Jeffries of Memphis, Tenn., and his dog Coco, went missing for 14 hours. Police and neighbors searched the area the two were last seen until they were found. Jeffries had stayed warm during that cold night by cuddling with his pet.

The young child was walking his playful dog when the canine fell into a brushy wood retainer wall pulling the child with him. Due to the wall’s height, neither Jeffries nor the dog, were able to climb out to safety.

Dominic Jeffries and Coco
Dominic Jeffries and Coco

 

“That’s just the worst, 14 and a half hours of my life, I wouldn’t want anyone to experience anything like that,” Robbyne Manning of Cordova, Jeffries’s legal guardian, told Channel 3 News.

The child admitted he heard strangers calling his name and also saw blue cop lights flashing by, but he was scared thinking he was in some kind of trouble and therefore did not call out letting rescuers know where he was.

The 7-year-old tried to stay warm by hugging Coco, but even after doing so, the young man realized the pet was still cold and shaking. Jeffries was more concern with the well being of his dog that he took off his own coat and put it around the dog. Later, he took off his gloves and covered the dog’s feet with them.

After a few hours, Jeffries took the dog off the leash hoping the pet would go out looking for help, but this never happened and both fell asleep.

Police officers were able to locate the child and the dog thanks to the fuzzy hat the child had on. An officer searching the bushes spotted the sleeping child and reunited both child and dog with a relieved Manning.

Jeffries and Coco did not suffer any injuries.