CBS Atlanta reports that, 8-year-old Carlie and 5-year-old Lacey Parga went for a walk with their dog Lucy down a cul-de-sac on trails near their neighborhood.
What started as a casual stroll became an unintended, and at times frightening, experience. As Carlie tells CBS, ‘”We tried to find our way out of the woods. We kept following paths and stuff and we got lost.” Indeed, they became scared that they were only to get more and more lost.
Carlie’s father, David Parga, noted that it wasn’t characteristic of them to wander off and, after searching for them but not hearing them respond, he contacted police and firefighters. Neighbors joined them including Carvin Young who thought to take Bell, who plays with the girls every day and knew their scent. Bell was able to lead searchers to the girls.
As Young tells CBS, “Bell sniffed them out. She smelled them, her tail went to wagging and she kept running and running until she got to them. She started jumping up on me and I knew we were close.”
The girls were scared but no one was hurt.
One small dog who lives near Atlanta can now be called a rescuer, and a successful one at that — plus, Bell’s finding the missing children is a reminder of why it’s not a bad idea for kids to get to know the neighborhood dogs.