Eric Johnson and his family were asleep March 3 when Bella, the family's 6-year-old miniature Australian shepherd, woke him up. Bella was behaving extremely erratically, giving Johnson a sense that "something just didn't feel right."
After turning on the TV, Johnson learned a tornado was headed toward their town. So, Johnson grabbed his wife and their children and hid them in a bathtub.
The father of three was looking for Bella when the tornado hit their house, tearing it into pieces and throwing him into his backyard. In a CNN story, Johnson said that Bella had been hiding under his bed when the tornado hit the hours.
“She was thrown into our yard and survived and was missing after that. It was hard for us knowing she had survived but we couldn’t find her. She was the piece of our family that was missing.”
Johnson and his wife had left pieces of clothing around their neighborhood hoping Bella would recognize the scent and find her way back. A church friend and dog tracker, Sarah Lang Romeyn set up cameras borrowed from a local animal rescue group in areas where people reported spotting her.
Eventually, using the footage, Romeyn discovered the spot where Bella was hiding. Bella was found April 26 in an alley 4-miles from home.
Johnson, his brother-in-law and their pastor retrieved Bella. After 54 days of living on her own, the beloved pet and heroine was reunited with her family.
"The whole situation was incredible. I am so very grateful that I was position to be able to help him out." Romeyn told CNN. "
While Johnson suffered a head injury and his wife had broken ribs from the tornado, along with the loss of their home, he says the family is just grateful that they are finally together again.
In an update reported by the Tennessean on April 30, Bella has been honored with a national award for her heroism.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is honoring Bella with its Heroic Dog Award and a treat basket after learning how she woke her family minutes before the deadly tornado flattened Hensley Street in Cookeville.
Johnson told The Tennessean that “if Bella hadn’t woken him, giving him time to usher his family into the bathroom for refuge, he didn’t think his family would’ve survived the catastrophic EF-4 tornado.”
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A dog that went missing after alerting her family to a tornado has been found 54 days later - PennLive
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