The Heart-Stopping Moment Every Dog Owner Knows

It is one of those heart-stopping moments that fortunately happens very infrequently: If you have had dogs for any length of time, then at some point your dogs have probably escaped or gotten lost.

Once, when my three dogs got out of the backyard, the two youngest ones just went next door to the neighbors. But the 14-year-old, blind, deaf dog managed to get about five blocks away. Some alert driver saw this small, black, 10-pound dog between two parked cars, pulled over, and called the number on his tag. To this day, I’m still grateful and amazed that she saw him.

Anyway, NWAC had a new-to-rescue — i.e., not microchipped — dog dropped off at one of our foster volunteers’ houses, and within just a couple of hours the dog was gone. Poof. Calls for assistance brought multiple people who walked the neighborhood, spoke with everyone outside, put up flyers, got a tracker, and even scanned the area with night-vision goggles. After literally hours of searching with multiple people, the dog was discovered snuggled in on a neighbors porch. Now, he is back safe and sound. He has been microchipped, neutered, and vaccinated, and is ready to go to his adoptive home.

It was a group effort to find the pup and we absolutely appreciated all of the help. As the neighbor who found the dog said, “I knew exactly what to do because I’d seen everyone out already looking for him.” By the grace of God, he was safely found and returned. I’m sure we all slept better after that news. I know that I did.