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Burned dog returns two days after blast destroyed Pennsylvania home

Posted at 2:50 PM, Sep 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-06 14:50:56-04

TAYLOR, Pa. - State police are still investigating an explosion at a home last week in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania.

There's nothing left of the home, but the dog who lived there came wandering home last weekend - a little banged up but doing OK.

If dogs could talk, Buddy would have quite the story. The home he shares with his owner Brian Ott was destroyed in the blast. Firefighters found Ott in the basement covered in burns, but Buddy was nowhere to be found.

There were sightings of the border collie mix around the borough for two days until Saturday when Buddy finally came home.

"I sat down on that step and I said, 'Come to me. Tell me what happened.' And he came right up to me and I hugged him, and he was all singed," Annie Shingler told WNEP.

Ott's neighbor Annie Shingler called police who then called Tracey's Hope, an animal rescue group, which placed Buddy in a foster home.

"He's doing well in the foster home and he's getting a lot of attention. He's on pain medicine and he's on an antibiotic to prevent an infection. That's what we have to watch for now, is the infection," said Tracey's Hope worker Denise Kumor.

Buddy has burns on his snout and all four paws and his long hair is singed. Tracey's Hope believes that's because buddy went looking for his owner.

"There's definitely a bond between owner and pet, and that proves it," Kumor said.

It brings a whole new meaning to man's best friend.

"(That) he came back and sifted through that rubble, looking for Brian is a testament to that. He's burned, he must have been looking for Brian. He knows where he lives, you know? There's love there on both sides,"  Shingler said.

Brian Ott is still in critical condition at Lehigh Valley Hospital's burn unit near Allentown.

Tracey's Hope says it has been in contact with Ott's family and they approved of his foster home. Tracey's Hope is also footing the bill for all of Buddy's veterinary care.