Dog Guards Owner's Body Thought to Be Buried in Tornado Debris
A dog was photographed sitting close to a body, thought to be its owner; hours after a massive tornado tore through Moore, Oklahoma on Monday.
The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office happened upon the small dog in the wake of the tornado that tore through Moore. The dog was guarding what was thought to be the body of its owner.
The sheriff's office posted the photo of the pooch on Facebook with the description: "Scared, but this little pup survived."
A body recovered from the debris close to where the dog was sitting was thought to be the dog's owner and officers stated they were going to take the dog to a shelter.
"Dog taken to shelter; deputy plans on adopting," the officers posted on Facebook.
However, with all the attention that the post received, a relative of the actual owner got in touch with the sheriff's office and told them not to adopt the dog.
"Please don't adopt Susie Collins. She is my brother Curtis' dog and he is alive and the only reason he is not well is that he is looking for Susie. Please help us find Susie and if you have her, please let us know," Sheila Collins commented on the Facebook post
The sheriff's department subsequently replied: "Sheila we will definitely be in touch. We want to do everything possible to make sure this dog gets back to its family."
The full extent of the tornado is still being uncovered as crews dig out from the destruction and try to uncover the death toll. Officials initially said that 51 people were killed in the tornado, but it was later revised to 24 when it was learned that some people had been counted more than once. The tornado was recorded being more than a mile wide and had sustained winds of over 200 mph.