Piper, left, and Makenna lead Porter the chocolate lab — rather, he leads them — back home after he was lost in a field for nearly two days following a car crash. Porter was found using a thermal imaging drone on Friday morning. (Provided photo)

HARRIETSTOWN — Forty hours after Porter, a chocolate lab, escaped from a car crash and ran off into the fields near Donnelly’s Corners, he was reunited with his family Friday morning, following many hours of on-foot searching and a short drone search.

Dogs mean a lot to their owners, said Dan Bain, the founder and director of the Joshua Fund — a licensed dog rescue nonprofit based in Jay. But Porter especially meant a lot to the Shanty family.

Kim Shanty adopted Porter from the Joshua Fund in 2023 and they went everywhere together.

“Porter was her world,” Bain said.

Kim died unexpectedly on Aug. 4 at her home in Saranac Lake. She was 40.

“This is the last thing we have of my daughter,” Kim’s mother Jane said of Porter on Thursday night.

The family got a bit of joy back on Friday, Bain said.

Porter has been staying with Kim’s family. On Wednesday afternoon, Kim’s sister Tiffany was involved in a crash and Porter got loose. According to the Saranac Lake Volunteer Fire Department, it was a two-car collision near 1496 state Route 86 at 2:52 p.m. Firefighters said the cause of the crash is still under investigation by State Police.

Bain said Tiffany suffered minor injuries in the crash. They’re not sure how Porter squeezed out of the partially rolled down window.

Bain called Rob Russell with New Hampshire-based 2A TAC Air OPS Drone Services.

Russell launched the drone “Traeger” — named after his own yellow lab — into the air at 6 a.m., using thermal imaging to zoom in on every bright spot. They saw a couple of deer and several rocks radiating heat from the day before before they found a Porter-shaped heat signature in an open field with tall grass.

His retractable leash had gotten tangled in the tall grasses and acted as an “anchor.”

Bain said they could not believe they found him so fast. He said it’s an “anomaly” to find a missing dog in under an hour. He estimates Porter was around 800 to 1,000 yards away from where the crash happened.

Jane’s granddaughter Piper said they were all shocked and some of them were crying.

“It was very emotional,” Bain said of the rescue. “He was thrilled to be rescued.”

“He was wagging his tail and rushing us to get out of there,” Piper said.

Porter was likely a bit dehydrated. When they got back to the search zone, he lapped up an entire bottle of water. They fed him some treats, gave him lots of pets and he jumped up in the seat of a camping chair, which they referred to as his “throne.”

A veterinarian gave him a clean bill of health on Friday afternoon. Piper said he has a little limping and back pain, but he’s doing well.

Bain said the Shantys brought Porter back home and snuggled on the floor for a while.

On Facebook, Russell thanked the many people involved in the search who helped Porter reunite with his family.

Video and photos of the rescue can be found at Russell’s Facebook page at tinyurl.com/4dez6287.