Advertisement
New Zealand markets closed
  • NZX 50

    12,105.29
    +94.63 (+0.79%)
     
  • NZD/USD

    0.5974
    -0.0002 (-0.03%)
     
  • NZD/EUR

    0.5536
    +0.0003 (+0.05%)
     
  • ALL ORDS

    8,153.70
    +80.10 (+0.99%)
     
  • ASX 200

    7,896.90
    +77.30 (+0.99%)
     
  • OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • GOLD

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    18,254.69
    -26.15 (-0.14%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • Dow Jones

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • DAX

    18,492.49
    +15.40 (+0.08%)
     
  • Hang Seng

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,339.64
    +171.57 (+0.43%)
     
  • NZD/JPY

    90.3210
    -0.0720 (-0.08%)
     

Louisiana Golden Retriever Celebrated for Protecting Young Girls Lost in the Woods for Hours

hero dog Artemis
hero dog Artemis

Courtesy Mary Bourg

Artemis, a golden retriever in Folsom, Louisiana, helped bring his family back together after its two youngest members went missing on Monday.

The golden retriever assisted a community-wide search and rescue crew in finding sisters Abigail and Cecilia Burg after they wandered into the woods. According to their mother, Mary, Artemis heard people coming and started barking, making it much easier to find them.

"He even growled at the police at first because he was protecting our babies," she wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

RELATED: Camera Catches Clever Golden Retriever Opening Door for Firefighter Locked Out of Office

Their father, Justin, told WWL-TV that the missing sisters, ages 7 and 4, were found after a four-hour search of the area and 1.2 miles away from their home.

ADVERTISEMENT

"Abigail was laying on top of Artemis holding his collar and just snuggled up with him, and CC (Cecilia) was laying with her head on Abigail's stomach, and they were just kind of dug in for the night," he said.

Mary added in her Facebook post that while the experience still shakes up Cecilia, both sisters are doing okay.

St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office shared a heartwarming video of the family reunited and thanked the community and Louisiana State Police and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office for their assistance with the search, calling it "a very happy ending."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

According to the American Kennel Club, golden retrievers are strong in adapting to any situation.

"Their quick minds — and background as gundogs — allow them to concentrate in the face of distractions encountered at disaster sites — sirens, shouting, even with guns or other loud noises in the background," the organization said the breed.