By Brandon Farmer – Stanton, KY 10-10-26
On Monday, October 5th the Powell County Animal Shelter received an unexpected package after a local mail carrier had a bizarre and heartbreaking encounter along his normal route. While delivering mail on Hall Hill Road in the Pilot/Patsy area, carrier Christopher Knox noticed movement in muddy embankment. Upon investigation, he discovered a small, shivering, elderly Shih Tzu pup stuck in the heavy, wet clay. The poor dog had become trapped in the thick mud, and the pouring rain made her predicament noticeably worse. Knox took action, freeing the despairing dog from the ensnaring sediment and immediately rendered aid, wrapping it in a jacket and housing it in his vehicle, away from the harsh conditions outside.
His wife Koula promptly reached out to shelter staff while Christopher returned to the area and went door-to-door, attempting to locate the owner of the imperiled pup. His search came up empty, however, as no one in the area recognized the clearly cared-for canine, who was found muddy but otherwise healthy and sporting pigtails.
The shelter scanned the pup for a microchip and luckily, the scanner picked up a signal, revealing that she was named “Sassy” and belonged to an individual named James Simpson from Ashland. The listed number, however, was no longer in service, so the shelter was unable to make contact with party identified on the chip. This is when they advertised Sassy on Facebook and explained her situation. It didn’t take long for the community to spring into action, with multiple people researching and sharing possible updated contact information for Sassy’s owners. The new phone number proved successful, and the shelter was finally able to contact the Simpson family who were elated to hear of her safe rescue.
Local dog lover, barista, and owner of the community-favorite coffee shop, Screamin’ Beans, Christina Smith, happened to be visiting the shelter the day of Sassy’s intake and quickly fell in love with the pup, offering to take her home, clean her up, and keep her comfortable while the shelter sought her owners. After taking her to get pampered at local groomer, The Fluff, Sassy joined Christina at the coffee shop where she continued to receive love, treats, and royal treatment while awaiting reunion with her family.
“When I first saw Sassy, I couldn’t imagine leaving that sweet little girl without a warm, comfortable place to stay,” Christina explained, “She was elderly, away from everything familiar, and I had no idea how long she’d been missing or what she’d been through. I brought her home, fed her, gave her a nice warm bath, dressed her in a little outfit, and tucked her into her own bed with a blanket. She was such a sweet, gentle little soul and seemed perfectly content to be pampered. She even went to town with me the next day!”
“When her family was finally found, I was thrilled,” Christina continued, “Knowing they had searched for days and feared they’d never see her again made the reunion even more special. Her mom was shocked when I told her how relaxed Sassy was during her bath. Apparently, Sassy normally has quite a few complaints about bath time! I told her family they should expect Sassy to disappear around this time every year because, as far as Sassy was concerned, she’d just spent a few days at Camp Powell County! I’m just grateful I was able to play a small part in getting this precious little girl back where she belongs.”
The Simpson family drove down on Wednesday, October 7th and retrieved the sweet, little, 15-year-old, partially blind, hard-of-hearing, spoiled princess and took her back home to Ashland. They explained that while visiting the Gorge and staying at a cabin at Pilot, Sassy had snuck off and, after searching tireless for 3 days, were forced to call off the search and return home with broken hearts, expecting her disappearance to be permanent. James Simpson joked that they had always referred to Sassy as a “Bear Dog” and had told his wife that she had likely chased off a bear and was stuck on its trail. In reality, the pup had trekked over 3 miles to where she had found herself stuff in the mud and eventually rescued by a kind-hearted mailman.
The family also mentioned that Sassy had come into their lives after being discovered and rescued from a ditch as a puppy! So, it goes without saying that this courageous little canine should probably avoid any more hikes moving forward.
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