The bond between a boy and his dogs helped keep a Jefferson 11-year-old safe Monday after he got lost in the woods behind his Peraglia Road home.
Schoharie County Sheriff Tony Desmond said the unidentified boy took his dogs, Casey and Krier, for a walk after school at about 4pm.
When he still hadn’t returned a couple of hours later, his mother called the Sheriff’s Department at about 6:10pm.
“It’s quite a wooded area plus there’s a large swamp and a number of ponds behind the home, so we were quite concerned,” Sheriff Desmond said.
“Add to that the temperatures—it was about 20 degrees—and we had probably 30 people on the scene searching for them.”
The Sheriff’s Department responded as did the Jefferson Fire Department and Rescue Squad, the Summit Fire Department and Conservation Officer Keith Isles with his search and rescue dog, Sheriff Desmond said.
The State Police also joined the search from the skies with a helicopter.
At about 12:25pm, a volunteer fireman heard the boy calling and found him tired and cold but safe in the woods off nearby Dyer Road.
He was taken to Bassett Hospital, where he was treated and released.
‘The boy knew people were out there looking for him and started calling,” Sheriff Desmond said. “It was a good ending. Everyone worked well together to find him.”
The 11-year-old was with his dogs when he was found.
‘They have a tight bond,” Sheriff Desmond said. “They must have been looking after him.”