Sweetie didn’t hear a single cry.
When the water started rising in Dhunge Bazaar, Nuwakot district, her family tried to get her out in time, but Sweetie, who was deaf, couldn’t hear her owners’ instructions. On August 26, 2026, a glacier near Langtang Lirung collapsed and triggered a flash flood in the Trishuli River that swept through the Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, leaving more than 600 dead.
Her owner, Shoba Shrestha, returned again and again amid the rubble of the destroyed neighborhood. For five days, she found nothing. They had two dogs that had lived with the family for more than five years; only Sweetie survived. When they finally found her, she wasn’t barking or moving as before — she was still, silent, and still shaken by what she had endured alone.
A team from NBC News recorded the exact moment Shoba lifted her from the mud and held her against her chest, while around her Nepal continued counting its missing people.