Sena the Samoyed rescued from forest in Thyholm after 21 hours lost

Last week, a Samoyed named Sena was rescued from a remote forest where her five-meter leash had become entangled among the trees. Sena had been missing from her owners for 21 hours. The incident began when Sena, in pursuit of a deer, pulled her ten-meter leash loose and ran off at 9 PM.

After hours of searching on foot and by car, hope began to fade for her owner, Malene Nedergaard. The family posted about Sena’s disappearance in two local Facebook groups and reported it to the police, but the efforts yielded no results. Then, Malene received a personal message offering assistance from Christian Holritz, a drone enthusiast from Bedsted in Thy.

Christian, who operates the firm “Hammeddronen,” possesses a thermal camera capable of detecting body heat. He quickly came to the family’s aid with his thermal drone. Even at night, the drone could pick up heat signatures from both deer and Sena. The dog barked from her spot under a tree, guiding her owners to her location.

Christian asked several questions, particularly about how long Sena had been missing, then immediately decided to help. He launched his thermal drone into the dark sky over Thyholm, and after some time, a purple-orange spot on the screen revealed body heat in the isolated Plethøj Plantation to the north. While deer were nearby, only one spot resembled a dog.

Sena’s owners rushed to the plantation and found her, securely tangled in her long leash between two trees. After her rescue, Sena drank three liters of water but appeared otherwise well.

Christian expressed his satisfaction, noting the joy in helping others and the relief of finding the dog. He and Sena’s owners had also reached out to the “Findhund” Facebook group, which specializes in locating lost pets using thermal drones, but Christian managed to find Sena before the group could respond.