Preface: I’m not blogging about this to toot my own horn. This was an adventure for me and I wanted to share the details…
Last Friday, I was on my way home from work when I saw an unusual object on the side of the road. At first, I thought it must be a black trash bag or tarp, but after closer inspection, I realized it was a dog sitting on the bank. I frowned, because I didn’t want to think about him getting run over by a car. On the other hand, I had told my husband I’d be right home, so I thought I would keep driving. “It will be fine” I told myself. Well, 1/2 mile up the road, I turned around. The dog was still sitting in the same spot, looking scared. So what did I do? Pulled off and got out.
I said “Hey, buddy. How are you?” and he looked at me skeptically. Then, those ears dropped and the tail wagged and he came hurrying toward me. He was a friendly black and brown dog and one eye was half blue (sign of a Husky). Thankfully, he had a collar with tags. The one tag was a military dog tag with a number on it (I thought phone number). I dialed the number, but it had been disconnected. He had the county dog tags, so I figured we could find his owners that way. So, the plan was to take him home and lock him up in our fenced in yard until I could find his owner.
About 2 minutes down the road with this dog as my passenger (sweet thing trying to crawl all over my lap), I realized my three dogs would go crazy with this new dog around. I remembered at the local sheriff’s office there were dog lots with dog houses, so I thought those must be holding pens for stray dogs until the animal control could get there. So, I turned around, yet again, and headed back toward town.
When I got to the sheriff’s office, I learned that those cages are for their service dogs, not for lost and found. They said I’d have to call animal control and wait for him to call me back. I was frustrated. But, then I realized it was 4:30 and the Treasurer’s Office should still be open and they could track him down by his county dog tag number. Genius!
So, I had to leave the poor pooch in my car and he wanted out so badly when I got out. I asked the lady if she could tell me the owner’s information based on the tag number and year. She had his name, but no phone number, but she had a phone book. Thankfully, the owner’s information was listed in the book, so I gave them a call. I told the lady I had her dog and would bring him to them, so she gave me her address. Also, I asked the dog’s name. It’s Scooby.
So, I drove ol’ Scooby home, talking to him the whole way. “We’re almost there boy. Just 5 more minutes.” When we were almost to his house, I saw a HUGE snapping turtle that had just crossed the road. It was neat!
I got to Scooby’s house and his owners were outside waiting. Scooby jumped out the car and you could tell he was home sweet home. I talked to the owners and told them my rescue story. The man laughed at me when I told him I’d tried to dial the number on the dog tag. He said that was his military ID and not a phone number. We talked for a few minutes about who we were and the little dog I’d rescued and he ended up giving me $20 for bringing his dog home.
The man was amazed that I’d gone through all that trouble to bring his dog back, but I would hope someone would do that for me. I believe every good deed you do in life is rewarded…if not in this life, then in the next!
I’ve ALWAYS had trouble sharing my faith for some reason. I’ve been a Christian since I was little girl but I’ve had a hard time telling others about what Jesus has done for me. So, this really spoke to me. Either way, I’ve signed up to do some online learning about this. After I get into it, I’ll let you know what I think, but I really feel the Lord is leading me to do this. Maybe you should check it out, too…
Because Nice Matters 