WHITEHALL, PA - A Pennsylvania family was reunited with their dog 28 hours after the toy poodle was carried off by a hawk.
Deborah Falcione of Whitehall, Allegheny County, said her 16-year-old dog, Porschia, who is deaf and blind, was snatched of the home's upper back deck Thursday.
Falcione said she gathered a group of friends and searched the area long into the night, but there were no signs of the toy poodle or the bird of prey who grabbed her.
"I was crying my eyes out. She is my life. My dogs are my life," Falcione told WTAE-TV.
Falcione said she was shocked to receive a call the next afternoon from Banfield Pet Hospital saying they had her dog.
"I said, 'That's impossible!' She could not have survived 28 hours out in the bitter cold weather, in 10-degree weather. This is a 6 1/2 pound dog. She's blind. She's deaf. She's 16 years old. I went down there, and sure enough, this is the dog. The old dog with the strongest will to survive," Falcione said.
The animal hospital said Porschia had been found by a neighbor about four blocks from her home. The dog was cold and lethargic, but didn't have any broken bones.
"How she got away, I'll have no idea. How she survived it, I will never know. But I know one thing: By the grace of God, this dog is still alive," Falcione said.
An 8-pound bichon frise named Zoey survived a similar ordeal in January 2018. Monica Newhard said Zoey was grabbed out of her Bowmanstown, Pa., yard by a swooping eagle.
The dog was found in a road about 4 miles from Newhard's home by a woman who took Zoey home and later spotted a Facebook post about the incident. Zoey was not seriously injured and was returned home a day after being carried away.