Hiker rescues pup from abandoned coal pit after frigid weeklong search
in Pennsylvania
[February 28, 2025]
POTTSVILLE, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania hiker had followed his dog off a
mountain trail this week when he glanced toward a deep coal pit below
and saw a tail move near a pile of rocks.
Collin Leiby, an avid hiker and wedding photographer, locked eyes with
the animal and knew it was Freddy, a 6-month-old golden retriever whose
disappearance had sparked a weeklong search in Pottsville, a community
in eastern eastern Pennsylvania’s historic coal country. Leiby had been
on alert for the missing dog and finally found him Monday on Sharp
Mountain, about 10 feet (3 meters) down the coal pit, too weary to make
his way out.
“A tear came to my eye,” said Leiby, 33, who lives a few blocks from the
dog's home. “I started calling his name. He slowly got up and started
walking toward us.”
Freddy made it partway up the icy side wall while Leiby reached down and
grabbed him. He gave him water, clipped a spare leash on him and walked
Freddy off the mountain alongside his dog, a pit bull mix named Bass.
“He was crying and jumping on me,” Leiby said. “He was like, ‘Get me
home.’”
Pam and Joe Palko had pulled out all the stops since Freddy went missing
on Feb. 17. They took to social media. They chased tips. They organized
a posse of volunteers to distribute flyers in schools, churches and
across town in Pottsville. They even hired a company that uses search
dogs to track missing pets, and another that flew thermal drones
overhead.
That helped rule some places out. But there was still no sign of the
6-month-old puppy as the week wore on and temperatures dipped into the
single digits in snow-covered Schuylkill County.
“It was excessively cold,” said Pam Palko, a financial planner and
mother of three. “We knew we would never give up, but the more that time
went on throughout the week, our hopes were getting smaller."
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In this Feb. 24 2025 photo provided by Collin Leiby, shown is Leibya
moments after he found a missing six-month-old Golden pup named
Freddy, a week after the dog ran off from his home at the base of
Sharp Mountain in Pottsville, Pa. (Collin Leiby via AP)
They were chasing one of many false alarms at a nearby animal
shelter just before dusk Monday when Joe Palko got an alert from
their home security camera. A stranger was at the door with Freddy.
Then their neighbor called. They raced home.
“He just was a little frantic, hungry and confused,” said the
neighbor, Dr. Carolyn Canizaro-Orlowsky, a retired veterinarian.
“When they showed up, he started wiggling."
The Palkos, whose children are 17, 20 and 22, had been especially
heartsick after losing a beloved 4-year-old dog last year to cancer.
They had gotten Freddy not only for themselves, but to give their
other golden retriever, 2-year-old Harper, a new companion.
Freddy, who had weighed about 45 pounds (20 kilograms), lost at
least 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) from the ordeal, and is a little the
worse for wear, but otherwise healthy. The Palkos are grateful for
that, and for the community that went to such lengths to reunite
them.
“There's a big collective sigh of relief," said Canizaro-Orlowsky.
“It's a neat lesson not to give up.”
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