PARADISE, Calif. — A month after losing their house in the Camp Fire, the homeowners were brought to tears when Madison, an Anatolian shepherd, was found alive and well -- protecting "what was left of his home."
Over a month ago, Madison’s owner, Andrea Gaylord, was not able to get back the home after the Camp Fire forced evacuations and she had to leave him and his brother Miguel at the house.
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Gaylord told KXTV that she believed that Madison had survived the fire.
Shayla Sullivan located Miguel earlier in neighboring Citrus Heights and asked to use an article of clothing belonging to Gaylord to leave on the now burned out property hoping that Madison would pick up the scent.
"I had the idea of placing an article of clothing that would smell like her to keep Madison's hope alive until his people could return," Sullivan wrote on Facebook.
When Gaylord was finally able to return to where her home once stood, she found Madison there waiting for her.
"Imagine the loyalty of hanging in in the worst of circumstances and being here waiting. It was so emotional," Gaylord told KXTV.
Though Gaylord lost her home in the fire, Miguel and Madision are back at her side.
"He had stayed to protect what was left of his home, and NEVER gave up on his people!" Sullivan wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday.
At least 1,643 buildings, most of them homes, were destroyed in the Camp Fire, the worst wildfire in the history of California.
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