Family’s Heartbreaking Goodbye Turns Miraculous: Dog Resurrects After ‘Being Buried’
Tragic events involving pets are always heart-wrenching, and explaining such incidents to children can be even more challenging. Dad Glenn Maloney faced one of these gut-wrenching moments when his beloved family dog, Mugsy, was struck by a car outside his girlfriend Viola Tiszl’s home.
Around 3 PM, Mugsy was hit by a vehicle while Glenn was inside checking on his children, Megan and Kevin. The impact was severe, and Glenn, deeply distraught, believed that Mugsy had died in his arms. “I picked Mugsy up,” Glenn recounted to PEOPLE, “but he died in my arms.”
Convinced that all hope was lost, Glenn decided to bury Mugsy before informing his children. He performed the heartbreaking task swiftly, choosing to keep the news from Megan and Kevin until later. “I was really upset. So I buried him quick and I didn’t even tell the children,” Glenn shared with Oprah. “I didn’t have the nerve to tell the children, until like seven o’clock that night. Mugsy was dead.”
That evening, the family held a small ceremony in the backyard to say their goodbyes. Megan wished to place a cross at Mugsy’s grave, and Glenn promised they would do it the following morning. After their emotional farewell, they went back inside, their hearts heavy with grief.
The next morning, at around 5:30 AM, the family was jolted awake by scratching noises at the door. Glenn went to investigate and was stunned to see Mugsy, tail wagging furiously, leaping into his arms. “Little tail wagging at 90 mph,” Glenn recalls. The family was in disbelief, convinced they had buried another dog by mistake. Viola, Glenn’s girlfriend, suggested that he might have buried a look-alike, but Glenn was certain it was Mugsy, thanks to his distinctive dog tags.
Determined to uncover the truth, Glenn dug up the grave and found that Mugsy had indeed been buried. “Mugsy was covered with dirt and his eyes were bloodshot,” Viola noted. It turns out that Mugsy, a Jack Russell Terrier known for his burrowing instincts, had managed to dig himself out. The vets speculated that Mugsy had been unconscious for a while, which is why his heartbeat had been weak and undetectable at first.
“The vet said that probably after six hours, he actually dug his way out,” Viola explained to Oprah. “His heart rate and everything was so slow that it was not obvious that he was alive. He had no vital signs.”
This incredible story, though astonishing, ended on a high note with Mugsy’s miraculous return. You can watch the Oprah segment featuring the family and their remarkable reunion with Mugsy below.
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