Carol Hosley’s two small rescued dogs, a Jack Russell/Pug mix named Brus and a terrier mix named Little Dude, are both terrified of men, probably due to their previous abusive owners.
Hosley lives on Hawaii’s Big Island. When firefighters arrived at her apartment earlier this month to help her evacuate because of the lava flowing from the Kilauea volcano, Brus and Little Dude were spooked and ran away.
To help find the two, Hosley enlisted the help of Aloha Ilio Rescue, the nonprofit group from which she rescued Brus just six months ago. For 10 days, searchers looked everywhere for Brus and Little Dude. “[W]e’ve just kept going back, and going back,” Daylynn Kyles, president of the rescue, told Hawaii News Now.
Kyles and two friends finally found the dogs yesterday morning — in an extremely dangerous predicament near the volcano’s 17th fissure. “They were stuck behind a fence, and they couldn’t get out because the lava had surrounded them,” Kyles said. “It was crazy.”
To rescue Brus and Little Dude, Kyles and her companions crawled through the grass and over the fence line. Although the two dogs were terrified and had been bitten by red ants, they were otherwise okay, considering their ordeal.
Hosley may have lost some personal belongings, but she is more than thrilled that the lives of her two precious dogs have been saved thanks to the bravery of Kyles and her friends. Brus and Little Dude are temporarily staying at Aloha Ilio Rescue until Hosley can find permanent housing.
“I just couldn’t be happier,” Hosley told Hawaii News Now. “The other stuff is stuff, but I got the dogs.”
Aloha Ilio Rescue saves about 600 dogs a year on the Big Island. It relies on donations to continue rescuing these dogs — and with the Kilauea disaster happening, it could especially use them now.
Photos: Aloha Ilio Rescue/Facebook