An incredible survival story from the Italian Alps: a rescue dog has showed up safe and sound after braving 16 days of freezing temperatures on the glaciers of the Matterhorn. Malice appeared home just in the nick of time, and it's possible she might have sensed the upcoming onslought of snow and wind that hit the Swiss Alps this week.
Malice is a 7-year-old Belgian shepherd Malinois who works as an avalanche rescue dog specialised in finding people buried in the snow. She disappeared on January 12th from the Plateau Rosa in Italy. It is believed she may have mistakenly followed a scent and gotten lost. Her handler, Lucio Trocco, says at first people thought she was lost in a glacier crevasse, and eventually started to think perhaps she had wandered into someone's chalet on the Swiss side of the Matterhorn. For 10 days, rescue crews searched for Malice with helicopters and drones, but found no trace of her.
Amazingly, after more than two weeks of looking, when everybody had started to fear the worst, Malice came back. She was a little thinner, a little worse for wear and tear, with some scratches on her paws and face, but safe and sound. She had survived 16 days at 3500m altitude, without any food, with temperatures dropping as low as -25 °C. Her humans welcomed her back with open arms and are currently lavishing her with love and caring for her to help her regain muscle tone. What a trooper!
Born and raised in the ski paradise of Vancouver, Canada, I learned to ski before I can remember, balancing precariously on my parents’ skis as they sailed down the hill. I started snowboarding in my teens and am now delighted to be exploring everything Europe’s ski scene has to offer!
