This Senior Dog Walked 30 Miles To Find Her Old Home, Only To Be Turned Away Again

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.theanimalrescuesite.com/30milesdog/


This Senior Dog Walked 30 Miles To Find Her Old Home, Only To Be Turned Away Again. She Will Never Set Foot In A Shelter Again Thanks To This Caring Woman!

Lady has had a rough life in the past. She has had two separate stays at the animal shelter, and was recently turned back into the shelter because she did not get along with her family’s new puppy. Because she was missing her family, Lady walked 30 miles to track down her previous humans, and they wanted nothing to do with her! Luckily for Lady, her story of determination and love soon went viral, and she found a wonderful fur-ever home with a woman named Helen Rich. Lady will live out her day’s on Helen’s huge 100-acre farm in Florida! I love happy endings!

Video at link.

[merrily]

1. Aw. I don't know why we sometimes refer to people behaving badly as "animals."

[brer cat]

15. That is a very good point.

I have called people "animals" many times without thinking about it. I need to change my ways!

[merrily]

16. Good for you, brer cat!

critters do the best they know to do. Some humans, sometimes, not so much. Me included.

[Orrex]

32. Because animals are capable of hideous brutality and cruelty?

Just a thought.

[cui bono]

35. Are you sure about that?

They do what they do mostly for survival. It's not premeditated or knowingly cruel. People know very well what they are doing when the mistreat animals. To get a new puppy and then get rid of the older dog because of it is cruel. Dogs get very attached to people.

[BrotherIvan]

36. +1

I have never seen an animal be evil. I have seen an animal attack when it was afraid or when its owner told it to.

[Orrex]

40. Sure.

When humans are cruel, it's because humans are evil.

But when animals are cruel, it's because humans are evil.


Got it.

[Orrex]

39. Yes, I am.

To name just a few, otters, dolphins, orcas and chimpanzees are famously cruel brutes, over and above what might strictly be written off as doing it "mostly for survival." Hell, even if we're willing to give them a pass based on that dubious rationalization, then humans are equally entitled to that same leniency.

Further, if animals aren't capable of actions that are "premeditated or knowingly cruel," then it's hardly praiseworthy that they fail to commit such acts. An animal with the ability to be deliberately cruel but which elects not to be cruel is far more deserving of your admiration.

[merrily]

45. On that basis, maybe we should call animals humans.

I don't know of anything an animal has done that approaches what we've done.

See also Reply 16. We're supposed to be smarter and have emotions like empathy and compassion.

[Orrex]

46. That, too, is a difference in degree, as well as a meaningless standard

Last edited Mon Apr 13, 2015, 08:33 AM - Edit history (1)

I don't know of anything an animal has done that approaches what we've done.

I agree. No animal has created art or cured polio or located extrasolar planets.

We're supposed to be smarter and have emotions like empathy and compassion.

Your framing suggests that animals are not expected to have those qualities, and thereby you provide the answer: when a human acts "like an animal," he or she is acting without the emotions of empathy or compassion. Well done!

I can never get over DU's endless Disney-esque fetishizing of pets, praising them for their supposedly better-than-human qualities and fawning over their supposedly greater nobility blah blah blah. They are animals doing what animals do, just like humans are animals doing what human animals do.

If I were to claim that Asians are better than Hispanics or that boys are better than girls, I'd be rightly attacked from all sides. But if I asserted that dogs are better than humans, my post would get 500 recs and would linger on DU's front page for days.

[merrily]

47. Apparently, this is a big issue for you. It isn't for me.

[Orrex]

48. Well, when it comes up, I comment on it. That's all.

[leftofcool]

2. One of our most blessed days is the day we rescued Luna.

We still don't know how or why she showed up at our door but she is in our arms forever. The little stinker just dug up one of my trying to make it dogwood trees, again. Did she get in trouble.............oh no, "now be a good girl and leave mommy's trees alone." Mommy might as well have said, "oh just screw the dogwoods, go ahead and dig baby girl."

[KittyWampus]

3. Happy ending, thankfully. I hope that family that discarded a faithful older dog for a puppy

learn some humanity.

[marym625]

4. How do people get rid of a long time pet because of a new one?

Just so sad. Heartbreaking. Thank you Helen Rich for loving this beautiful, loyal dog, Lady.

[krawhitham]

17. Because people suck

I got nothing else




besides these people should not be allowed to own pets

[marym625]

18. That's about it

And couldn't agree more. Never should be allowed a pet.

[tblue]

23. and what happens when the puppy gets old?

They gonna get rid of him/her too? Mean people suck.

[marym625]

25. yep. horrible people

[Dragonfli]

29. I think people like that should not be allowed to adopt

There is a reason that most rescue operations require an application to be filled out, most of which have questions relating to whether one has given up a pet before and questions regarding what may prompt one to do so in the future. Rescue organizations sometimes receive criticism for requiring applications, oft-times extensive ones usually asking for vet and personal references. It is to protect those they rescue from needing rescue again.

For those that are a good fit, such applications are a minor nuisance and just a technicality, it is always the ones that would not make good adoptive parents that complain about them. In the case of the family that just "traded up for a newer model" in their minds, I can only assume they got the new one from a place that does not screen, a place that treats it as a sale rather than an adoption.

That poor girl has a new home, but that does not erase the emotional pain her former owners put her through with repeated rejections after such outstanding loyalty.

[marym625]

31. rejection she can not possibly understand.

Hell, I don't understand

[newfie11]

5. Her x owner sucks!

That is heartbreaking.
So glad he has a good hour me now.

[hlthe2b]

6. Just your title had me in tears.. One has to treasure an old dog--they are the ones who know you!

(and love you unconditionally, nonetheless).

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. You are not the only one sniffling...

That really got to me. Reading this as my senior guy is sitting next to me with his head on my knee.

[ColesCountyDem]

7. Blessed are those who have earned the love of an old dog.

[djean111]

9. Here's the thing about dogs, though - they give their love, sometimes,

to people who do not deserve it. As in this case.

[ColesCountyDem]

12. Sadly true, too. n/t

[MBS]

8. here's a longer story

I went searching for updates, and didn't find anything super-new, but here at least are more details:

http://www.today.com/health/first-class-heiress-gives-abandoned-shelter-dog-jet-set-rescue-1D80024901

What a great dog she must be. And what a good lady to come to Lady's rescue.

[KittyWampus]

13. Thanks, here's a pix from the story you posted. Doggie jetting to her new home.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Another pic from the story

[paleotn]

10. Poor baby!.....

....we have a simple rule in our home. If we take a dog or cat into our care, we are obligated to provide and care for them for the rest of their natural lives, period. I can understand how circumstance might change and someone can't honor that obligation, but I guess we've been blessed and have always honored it. Behavioral problems can be worked out, and many times what's considered a problem is merely an inconvenience. Would you take one of your human children to a shelter because of some aggravating inconvenience? Not hardly. The same applies to animals.

[Arkansas Granny]

11. My father once ended a years long friendship over something like this.

The old dog was put down because he didn't get along with the new pup. My dad was horrified that someone would do that.

I'm glad there was a good outcome for this gal.

[turbinetree]

14. Fabulous

That a family reached out to take this great looking dog into there lives is just fabulous Kudos to you, may you live long and prosper with your new buddy.-------yeah


While the other family thinks and feels like it did not deserve anything also ----how callous, just imagine when there other dog gets older, they don't or might not want to have that responsibility either, and they are teaching there family members this whatever you want to call it----speakes volumes

[heaven05]

19. +1000

smiles, big time....

[secondvariety]

21. Old dogs

are the best dogs. Thanks for posting, Steve.

[mountain grammy]

22. You had me at senior dog.

Such a sad, sweet story.

[whathehell]

24. GREAT story -- original owners: How could you do this to your sweet, loyal dog?

Most people will not walk 30 miles to see you -- You should never have a pet again -- our
pets are family and NOT to be "thrown away".

So glad this sad story had a happy ending.

[fasttense]

26. People like the former owners of Lady see their pets as mere objects

That's why they can ignore them and toss them when the animal shows loyal devotion.

I have found that older rescue dogs can be so devoted and easy to handle. They are past the annoying chewing stage and frequently are already house broken. They can learn new tricks and are just so happy to be with you. Puppies are adorable but older dogs are just so calm and respectful.

[chillfactor]

27. How can anyone turn away one of their family?

Those people suck! How heartless!!!

[riderinthestorm]

28. Who let this family take a new puppy before ascertaining compatibility with the senior dog?!

really irresponsible all around (but especially the damn family.)

I can't imagine the heartbreak and confusion for Lady when she was rejected again by those she had loved unconditionally.



So glad she's in a better place!!!

[roody]

30. Someone who doesn't spay or neuter.

[nolabear]

33. We once had a dog that walked miles to return to our old home.

He sneaked off when my future husband took him to work with him, and after we had been frantically searching for him for a couple of days we got a call from the shelter saying the police had gotten a call about a dog standing on the porch of the house we'd lived in a couple of years prior, barking frantically to be let in. Fortunately everyone behaved reasonably and we had Bruno for many more happy years.

How anyone could give up a dog who loves them so is beyond me. You can manage behavior issues with some effort.

[UTUSN]

41. I'm telling this story *not* judging my mother. We relocated when I was 5 to a town 10 miles away.

One of my earliest memories was Christmas a couple of years before, when I was presented this Cocker Spaniel with a gigantic red bow. Fine. So later we were moving. My mother was the iron in our family and she loved dogs but (this was in the 1950s) she didn't touch them with her hands, and *never* the dog inside the house or in the car. So the furniture movers had done their thing and we dealt with the small stuff in a few trips. This was my dog but my two sisters and I inquired about how we were transporting the dog. Mother said the dog could NOT be in the car, that we were gifting it to an aunt. Well, after our few trips with the smaller stuff, the time came when it was the LAST trip. The dog had not made an objection to the previous trips, but she knew this was the LAST trip. So the 1950s Plymouth pulled away from the curb and the dog started trotting behind.

We of course brought this to Mother's attention, but she drove on saying there was no way the dog would be in the car. We kept going, car picking up speed, dog too. We kept going and going, dog too. We reached the city limits and the dog was getting exhausted and tongue lolling out, and we begged Mother to stop the car and she refused. Finally all three of us burst into tears and Mother gave in. And we opened the back door and the dog crawled in.

The aunt didn't get the dog. The dog lived to age 13. There's another heartbreaking story about her and Mother (who really did LOVE her, despite the appearances). Next time.

******Well, might as well tell it now. So years later we had this happy home and there was a storm and flooding to come. And the dog had just had a litter in the garage in the back of the yard. So we notified Mother it would be good to bring the dog and her puppies into the house. She said this was absolutely an impossibility. So the water rose and rose and the water was up to the under-floor level. Mother would not relent. But I swear she loved that dog. So then the dog SWAM with a puppy in her mouth to the front porch, then swam back and fetched a second pup, then another and another until they were all on the front porch. When that dog died at thirteen, Mother grieved the way we all did.

[nolabear]

44. Do we ever deserve that kind of loyalty?

I don't know but it's just an incredible gift.

[BrotherIvan]

37. Water works

So happy this dog has found love.

[Marie Marie]

38. Pets are NOT disposable!

Grrrrrr! Bless this woman, this dog and their new life together.

[cui bono]

42. When I was looking for pups to adopt many years ago, there was this sweet adult golden retriever

at the SPCA. The person who worked there told me the owners turned it in because they redecorated and the dog didn't match the new furniture!

[Marie Marie]

43. Words fail me...

Makes you wonder if these owners have kids and if they "fit" the new décor. May people as shallow as these truly experience the emptiness in their souls. SIGH!!!!