“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 was wrong: their beloved senior dog, Whitey, had been missing for several hours.
The couple began scanning their 110-acre sanctuary, which houses 100 animals, but Whitey was nowhere to be found. As the hours passed, worry set in — until Kristin heard a faint, squishy sound in the distance.
Whitey, a once-lonely barn dog, had gotten himself stuck chest-deep in a giant mud pit.
When Kristin and Jay purchased the farm in 2017, they knew Whitey would need extra love. The senior pup had lived alone in the barn, tasked with guarding the other animals, and was wary of humans. “Whitey used to live in the barn alone; he had no family,” ZRFS shared on Facebook. “His job was to protect the animals.”
Kristin and Jay immediately carried him inside to help him adjust. Whitey spent his first night cuddled with his new humans, and by the next morning, he had begun to embrace life as a cherished family dog. No longer roaming alone, Whitey followed Kristin and Jay everywhere, quickly shedding his fear of humans.
So when he disappeared only to end up in a mud pit, the couple was shocked. Kristin tried to pull him out, but it wasn’t until Jay arrived that they safely lifted Whitey onto dry ground.
“The next morning, he went outside, and when I opened the door, he was sleeping in a ball outside of the door,” ZRFS wrote. “He was so happy to be a beloved family dog. He’s been inside every day since.”
After the mud rescue, Whitey regained his footing and eventually returned to the comfort of his cozy bed, snuggled up with his relieved humans.
Whitey isn’t just Kristin and Jay’s best friend — he’s a beloved member of the entire ZRFS family, adored by every animal on the farm. After this harrowing ordeal, the sanctuary is grateful to see their senior pup safe and sound.
“He’s truly been a blessing every single day since we moved in,” ZRFS wrote. “Today, he is the center of our world.”