Canada

When Micaela Sawyer saw the photo of a weak, emaciated dog shuddering in the snow, she hoped desperately it was her Murphy.

The 18-month-old labrador, with a dulled red coat and legs riddled with injuries, was unmistakably the dog she and her partner, Jim Barnes, had raised as a puppy, she said.

For more than 50 days, Barnes and Murphy had been the focus of an extensive search in the wilderness of western Canada after they vanished in mid-October.

But incredibly, after weeks of hope and despair, Murphy was home at last.

“He is badly injured, with major swelling, puncture wounds (possibly from a dog or coyote), a broken front paw, and scabs all over,” Sawyer wrote on Facebook, sharing an image of a dog, his right paw in a bright red cast. “His behavior has changed too, from a quiet, independent dog to one who barks at every sound and howls when I leave the room.”