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Norman Mackay lost his home in the Lake Ōhau village fire, but was reunited with his beloved dog Milo on Thursday.
The five-year-old kelpie got scared and ran away during the village evacuation in the early hours of Sunday morning when one of New Zealand’s largest wildfires burned over 5,000 hectares and destroyed 46 homes.
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Lake Ohau Village resident Norm Mackay is reunited with his dog, Milo, on Thursday.
Mackay said he feared his pet had died in the fire, but was contacted by Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) on Monday to say that a firefighter had seen a dog that matched Milo’s description, but was unable to get close, and he escaped. down a ravine.
“That was the first time I knew she was alive,” he said.
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“It felt so good. I was really euphoric. “
It was a feeling of euphoria again on Thursday when around 4 p.m. Fenz confirmed that the dog and the owner had reunited.
Milo leapt at Mckay when they met, licking and jumping on him.
“She’s excited to be home and she’s not injured in any way and she doesn’t appear to have lost any weight,” Mackay said.
“She met with Mack [Mackay’s other dog] and let her lick his face. ”
As soon as the dog was home, he ate some food and then went straight to sleep.
“She is exhausted.”
Before finding Milo, Mackay brought the dog mat, food, and water to town.
“I thought I could go back and eat,” he said.
However, when they returned the next day, the food had not been touched.
“I thought ‘Oh my God, he’s gone to the lake or gone somewhere else, but he hasn’t come home because it’s unfamiliar smells'”
John Bisset / Stuff
Norman Mackay and his other dog Mack on Thursday.
Then Mackay got another call saying that they had seen Milo again, but that he had run away once more.
Then there was a third sighting Thursday morning: A farmer known to Mackay woke up at 6 a.m. to a barking dog outside.
He went to the door and there was Milo. Again he ran out before the farmer could get him inside.
Mackay got Milo almost five years ago from a family in Christchurch that had just had a baby.
Mackay said he took Milo right away.
BEJON HASWELL / Things
An aerial view of the charred remains of Lake Ohau Village after the fire that swept through much of the area Sunday.
“Milo is a very energetic and very powerful little dog. He loves the outdoors. She sleeps next to me in my bed at night, she has her own little bed there. She is a dog of character, a lovely dog, a lovely dog.
“She and Mack, that’s my German Shepherd, they get along really well.”
Mackay also lost two cats in the fire and is not optimistic that they survived.
He thought being a kelpie had helped Milo survive.
“She is a kelpie, they are cursed dogs and hardy kelpies.”
Mackay and his wife have been residents of Lake Ōhau Village since 1992.
He went roaming the area “and I fell in love with it,” he said.
He and his wife built a house on Huxley Terrace on Lake Ōhau as a holiday home, but they soon decided to leave their jobs in Auckland and move to the village permanently.
His house was destroyed by the fire.
Mackay said he was “fine” after the fire.
“I handle stress quite well. My wife is not doing very well, ”he said.
He was awakened at 2.20am Sunday by someone knocking on his door.
“I went out and saw a wall of flame about a mile away and I thought ‘wow, that’s big, and it’s coming this way with the wind.’
“So I got dressed and as I was getting dressed, the fire department came in and they said ‘get out, get out, it’s all the rage there. If you don’t go now, you will die. ” ‘
Mckay and his wife got into one vehicle each and while Mack was accompanying him, his wife tried to lead Milo to the other car.
“Milo got scared by the fire and the fire trucks and ran away.”
