A young nine-month-old dog named Asproulis (meaning “Whitey”) recently made headlines after surviving a nine-day ordeal in the Greek mountains. The pup, who lives with his owner Christos Zacharis in the village of Haliki, Epirus, vanished after impulsively following a group of French ski mountaineers up the slopes.
While he managed to follow them to the summit, the dangerous, icy terrain at 1,900 meters (6,200 feet) eventually trapped him, leaving him unable to find his way home.
The search ended in a miracle when a group of Greek climbers heading toward Tsoukarela peak heard faint cries. Because of his white fur, Asproulis was practically invisible against the snowy backdrop, but his persistent barking led rescuers to him. The team split up, with the most experienced climbers navigating the treacherous terrain to reach the starving animal.
“We were climbing to reach the summit and as we were going up, we heard some cries. The little dog must have noticed us and seen us first. We hadn’t seen him because he’s white and blended into the snow, but he was calling for help,” Marina Koraki, a member of the climbing team that rescued Asproulis, told Proto Thema.
Dog thanks rescuers for saving him from Greek mountains
By the time he was found, Asproulis was so emaciated that his collar hung loosely around his neck. After being fed and safely escorted down the mountain—a journey that took several hours—the dog was reunited with a grateful Zacharis. The rescuers noted that the pup seemed to thank each of them individually before returning home to finally rest on his favorite sofa.
“When the dog came down with us, he went to each one of us as if to say thank you. He was almost crying,” said Koraki.
Zacharis explained that the distance from where Asproulis was found takes about 3.5 hours to get to, and the highest peak there is approximately 2,200 meters (over 7,200 ft). Behind the peak, there is a cliff which must have spooked the pup, Zacharis added.
Related: Frenchman’s Lost Dog in Greece Found a Year Later in Serbia
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