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Pup Found After Days in the Zero-Degree Cold

Bruni disappeared after fireworks on New Year's Eve

Every time there are firework celebrations, dogs have a propensity to hide from the scary noises. And sometimes, despite their owners’ best efforts, a pooch will get away. That happened to Megan Palma’s family dog Bruni, who disappeared from downtown on a very cold New Year’s Eve, prompting a frantic search that does have a happy ending.

Bruni is a small, wiry terrier-like dog, not the kind you’d expect to do well in the near-zero cold Homer’s experienced lately. But he did survive, and was found by Kathy Sarns-Irwin, who spotted him in the trees near her home on Ocean Loop on Thursday.

“I just happen to be at my computer and, you know, I look out the window every so often. But just happened to see a glimpse of these four little feet running under the trees in front of my house and we have lots of those pheasants, the Ringneck pheasants and I thought, that's not a pheasant, It's got four legs and looks like the size of a pheasant when I, you know it moves so fast,” Sarns-Irwin said.

Sarns-Irwin had seen the missing poster for Bruni at Homer Animal Friends, but wasn’t sure at first it was the missing pooch.

“But then I like, my brain says, oh how many little dogs are gonna be running around in these temperatures looking scared. And so I backed away, I knew where he was like okay down, He's down at the bottom here. And so I called Homer Animal Friends and I got, I said, asked them for the phone numbers on that poster and she gave me both phone numbers and then I called the first one right away and I got a hold of Megan and, and I said, hey I think I've seen the dog. And she was like, dropped everything, jumped in her car and started over here,” Sarns-Irwin said.

Sarns-Irwin loaned Palma some winter boots to pursue Bruni down through the deep snow towards the beach, and before long, they were reunited.

“She could see it, I could tell by the tone of her voice. And, and then within four minutes or five minutes, she had him in her arms and she, he had eaten all the food in the bowl she had, and she was crying, and then I was crying and we were hugging. And, and we just walked to her truck and I gave her her shoes back, she gave me my boots back and, and she ran straight to the vet, the Kachemak bay vet, to make sure he was okay. And I guess I texted her later and he was just dehydrated, but in pretty good shape, and scrawny, you know, he lost a lot of weight,” Sarns-Irwin said.

KBBI was unable to reach Palma for comment, but on her social media she expressed relief and thanks for all who helped bring Bruni back home safely.

Jay Barrett, KBBI's new News Director should be a familiar voice to our listeners. He's been contributing to Kenai Peninsula news for the last three years out of KDLL Kenai, and was the voice of The Alaska Fisheries Report from KMXT for 12 years. Jay worked for KBBI about 20 years ago as the Central Peninsula Reporter at KDLL.