Busy Butterfly

During the middle of a rural Virginia winter, Happy the Papillon decided she needed a change of scenery. When she left home to begin her adventure, 2 inches of ice covered the ground. Over the next three weeks, two storms dumped snow and more ice on the area. Meanwhile, posters, newspaper ads, and visits to local shelters turned up no sign of the 7-pound dog. Her owner, breeder Jean Keating, finally gave up, assuming Happy had died or was in another home.

Then came a phone call from someone who'd spotted the dog.

"She'd gone in a straight line two miles from my house, dug a den under the snow and ice, and managed to maintain herself without apparent harm for 23 days," Keating says. "She simply settled in and waited for me to come and find her."


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