Lost dog’s hoarding helps rescuer reunite her with owners

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A lot of humans could learn a thing or two about loyalty from a Rottweiler named Ella. Ella’s human family, the Kelleys, were in a horrific car accident in Hickman County, Tenn., on July 1. Ella escaped the wreck in good shape physically, but the Kelleys weren’t so lucky -- paramedics rushed all five family members (parents Joe and Michelle and their three children) to a nearby hospital.

Ella was left behind. She remained near the site of the accident for about two weeks, when she was found by a kind rescuer, Kathy Wilkes-Myers. ‘That’s the last spot she saw her family and she was going to stay there,’ Wilkes-Myers told Nashville’s News Channel 5. ‘She was starved and covered with ticks.’

Wilkes-Myers knew something terrible must have happened to Ella for her to be found without her family. She searched the nearby area and returned home with Ella and a plastic bag full of items the dog had hoarded in a little nest -- the family’s toothbrushes, a hairbrush and other personal items. Among the personal effects Wilkes-Myers found was contact information for the Kelleys’ insurance agent.

Wilkes-Myers got in touch with the agent, April Bowers, who immediately knew the lost Rottweiler was the Kelleys’ missing Ella. The dog and her family were reunited at last, and -- we confess -- the happy reunion was enough to bring a tear to even our hardened eye. Bonus good news: The Kelleys are all expected to fully recover from their injuries.

-- Lindsay Barnett

Video: CBSNewsOnline via YouTube