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SANDY, Utah (KSTU) - A Utah man recounted a mysterious discovery in the middle of Utah's West Desert while off-roading near the Salt Flats on Sunday evening.
Now a local rescue group is calling it a miracle story of survival.
Matt Bentley loves his dog Bella, whose third birthday is this week. To celebrate, Bentley took Bella 4-wheeling in a popular off-roading area in the West Desert and Salt Flats of Utah.
While on his Sunday evening drive, he saw something in the distance. It was a dog and it came right up to him.
“It was friendly so I grabbed it put it in Jeep,” Bentley said. “Middle of nowhere on the salt flats, probably been out there forever."
Bentley took video of the dog in the back of his Jeep after rescuing the clearly lost pup.
“That’s when I kind of realized, it sunk in how bad of shape it was in,” Bentley remembers.
It was obvious this dog had been out there awhile and needed serious help.
After hearing about the rescue, Lila Oulson at the Utah Animal Adoption Center immediately took this mysterious lost dog in.
“I have never seen a dog in that bad of shape,” Oulson said. “She’s scabbed over, has sores on her, has no fur.”
Among her conditions: mange and malnourishment.
They don't know what kind of dog she is. What they do know: She was out there for a long time and she probably would not have survived much longer.
Despite the rough few months this dog has had, her personality and her spirit have stayed in good shape
“She’s just being so sweet she wants to be around people,” Oulson said.
They've already given this miracle dog a name: Kelly.
For what started as a drive to celebrate one fur baby, Bentley and Oulson are grateful it turned into saving this dog instead.