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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS -- It had been three weeks since Sue Garr had seen her dog, Millie, and hope of finding the Australian shepherd mix was fading.
"Our whole family was absolutely sick," Garr said. "If you've ever had, if you're an animal lover and you have one that you can't find, it's pretty awful."
"I think people wrote her off because it was so cold," she added. "You know, dogs don't make it in that kind of cold."
But a woman walking along Fort Union near 2550 East heard Millie in distress in the storm drain and called 911.
Police spokesman Beau Babka said Mille might have entered the drain through a partially-open grate.
"The dog was obviously real scared," Babka said. "They located Millie in between a couple of different grates, pulled those up [and] coaxed her out."
Millie had lost a lot of weight and didn't smell very good, but at first sight there was no mistaking her family.
"She went nuts. It was obvious that she was our dog," Garr said.
She thinks Millie may have jumped over their 6-foot fence to get out of the backyard.
"Are we going to change the fence? No. She's going to become an indoor dog," Garr said.
It may have been a lucky break Millie fell into the storm drain. The drain was roughly 10 degrees warmer than street level. Vets think Millie survived on storm water and possibly rats.
Thanks to an alert woman, and the help of rescue workers, all of Garr's family will be home for the holidays.
"Nothing better than having your dog home for Christmas," Garr said.
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Story compiled with contributions from Paul Nelson and Nadine Wimmer.
