The story of Missy goes like this:

A storm was brewing on 14,065-foot Mount Bierstadt. Anthony Joseph Ortolani‘s German Shepherd, Missy was injured badly and could no longer walk.

The owner of the injured dog, concerned about a younger climber with them, made the heartbreaking decision to leave Missy behind. He contacted the sheriff’s office and search and rescue and he was told it was too high a risk to attempt a rescue. So, it would seem to Ortolani hope was gone and the dog would perish on the mountain.

Then as fate would have it, eight days later, Scott Washburn and his wife Amanda stumbled upon the abandon shep. Realizing they were also unable to carry Missy down, they went ahead without her. But then, launched full scale social media rescue – and with eight volunteers in tow, Washburn returned up the mountain and rescued her.

The Washburns now want to adopt Missy. But Ortolani wants his dog back.

You can imagine the conflict here. The dog lovers who accomplished the rescue think the owner is not deserving because Missy was left to die. And so far, the internet seems to agree. In addition, The Clear Creek Sheriff’s Office has charged Ortolani with cruelty.

But Ortolani sees this situation very differently – as an almost miraculous return of the pet believed to be gone forever. Expressing his gratitude and attempting to explain his side of story, Ortolani said:

“I picked her up on my shoulders and was hopping from boulder to boulder but I couldn’t keep her on me. I dropped her once and I almost fell once too and I realized that I couldn’t carry her off of the mountain. At this point I made the decision that I honestly never thought I would even be faced with.”

So, what do you think? Who gets Missy? Leave your comments below, and on our FB page.

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