Labrador stranded alone on Irish mountain for two weeks rescued by walkers
Ageing dog was carried five miles through snow and ice by rescue pair
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Your support makes all the difference.A labrador that spent two weeks stranded on a freezing Irish mountain range has been reunited with its grateful owners after being rescued by a pair of hikers.
Eight-year-old Neesha was found "freezing and petrified" curled up in the snow by Jean Francois Bonnet and Ciara Nolan, two doctors who were hiking around Ireland's Wicklow mountains.
The pair wrapped Neesha in some spare clothes and carried the golden retriever some five miles down the mountains to safety, slipping several times on ice during the descent.
"She didn't even have the energy to bark or stand," Mr Bonnet told Ireland's East Coast FM. "We tried to get her to walk but she couldn't stand so we covered her in our spare clothes."
Owner Erina O'Shea Goetelen, a nurse from Aughavannagh in County Wicklow, explained how Neesha went missing during a family walk up the mountains with husband Serge and their two children on 23 January.
The family were heading home when Neesha, along with their three-year-old German shepherd Harley, bolted.
"Both girls spotted a deer, and ran after the deer and we couldn't find them," Ms O'Shea Goetelen told Ireland's RTE.
"My husband and children ran after the girls but they were faster," she said.
The younger dog, Harley, was found nearby the following day but there was no sign of Neesha.
"We looked every single day, up and down. We called her and put her bed out," Ms O'Shea Goetelen said.
"I couldn't sleep for a week," Ms O'Shea Goetelen's daughter Shannagh said. "I just pictured her shivering in the cold and it was awful."
Ms O'Shea Goetelen said: "It was an awful week. I had to deal with the grief of losing mum and Neesha. Mum was ill, and she's at peace but I know she loved Neesha and I couldn't bear to tell her on video calls that Neesha was missing."
"Three days after mum's funeral, we thought there's no chance of finding Neesha, she's too old, it's too cold up there," she said.
But, that evening, the family received a call from Ash Animal Rescue in Wicklow telling them Neesha had been found by a pair of doctors who lived nearby.
The ageing labrador had lost one-third of its body weight while on the mountain, and had developed dermatitis, but has been improving since being rescued, Ms O'Shea Goetelen said.
After being reunited, Ms O'Shea Goetelen said Neesha's rescue was a "pure miracle" and the family could never thank Mr Bonnet and Ms Nolan enough for their efforts.
"Neesha's part of our family," she said. "It's amazing what the couple did for her, how they cared for her.
"And the public all tried to help us. We will never forget it."
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