As the senior pooch has enjoyed doing for the past three years, Sam was basking in the sun Monday morning on the 15th-floor balcony of the Sacramento, Calif., apartment he shares with his dog dad, Bill McCourt.
While McCourt is at work during the day, his mom, Bette Plumb, dog sits. She was rather surprised to get a phone call Monday from building workers, who told her they found Sam dog-paddling in the outdoor hot tub. They’d heard a loud splash and had gone out to see what caused it.
“My first thought was he must have got out and taken the stairs or the elevator or something,” Plumb told the Sacramento Bee. “But there’s no way he could have gotten out of the condo. All of a sudden, I knew. It hit me immediately: He fell.”
Expecting the worst, Plumb took the elevator 15 stories down to the ground level. There she found Sam on his feet, walking around with just a slight limp.
“It’s absolutely a miracle,” she told the Bee. “There’s no way that dog should be alive.”
Sam didn’t escape completely unscathed. He had a fractured pelvis and ribs, and a cut on his bottom that required stitches. He was expected to be home for Christmas after spending a few days at VCA Bradshaw Animal Hospital, but a full recovery may take weeks.
And from now on, the balcony will be off limits to the very fortunate dog.
“Whenever I tell someone what happened, they keep saying, ‘The 15th floor? Are you sure it was the 15th floor?’ because no one can believe it,” McCourt, who’s had Sam ever since he was a puppy, told the Bee.
“I just want to get him home. He’s a huge part of my family.”
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