“This is the last place we thought we’d find Whitey” 😰
It was a typical afternoon at Ziggy’s Refuge Farm Sanctuary (ZRFS) when owners Kristin Hartness and Jay Yontz realized something alarming: their beloved senior pup, Whitey, was missing. The couple began scouring their 110-acre farm, checking on all 100 of their animals, but Whitey was nowhere to be found. As hours passed with no sign of him, their worry grew—until Kristin heard a faint, distant “squish.”
Whitey’s story at ZRFS began in 2017, when Kristin and Jay purchased the farm. The property came with a few animals, including Whitey, a lonely barn dog who had once been wary of humans. “Whitey used to live in the barn alone; he had no family,” ZRFS wrote on Facebook. “His job was to protect the animals.” Recognizing his need for love and companionship, Kristin and Jay immediately moved Whitey inside, carrying him themselves since he was too timid to enter on his own. That first night, he slept with his new family, and by the next morning, he had already begun to embrace life as a cherished house dog.
Over the years, Whitey thrived as part of the ZRFS family. No longer afraid of humans, he followed Kristin and Jay everywhere, enjoying the comfort and love he had never known in the barn. He formed bonds not only with his human family but with every animal on the farm.
So when Whitey went missing for hours recently, the couple’s relief turned to shock when they found him chest-deep in a giant mud pit. “Whitey wasn’t [making] any noise; Kristin could barely hear the faint sound of him trying to get out of the mud,” ZRFS wrote on Instagram. Exhausted from hours of struggling, Whitey was desperate to free himself, but unable to move. Thankfully, Kristin and Jay arrived just in time. Jay lifted Whitey from the mud while Kristin steadied him, bringing him safely back to dry land.
After his dramatic rescue, Whitey hobbled around the farm to regain his footing. Once the adrenaline subsided, the couple carried him inside, washed the mud from his coat, and settled him into his bed. Surrounded by his relieved humans, he was finally safe and comfortable once again.
Whitey is more than just a pet—he’s an integral member of the ZRFS family. From his days as a timid barn dog to becoming the heart of the sanctuary, Whitey has touched every life at the farm. After a frightening few hours, everyone at ZRFS was overjoyed to see him safe. “He’s truly been a blessing every single day since we moved in,” the sanctuary wrote. “Today, he is the center of our world.”