Reuniting with a lost dog is almost emotional – for both the dog and the owner. And that’s even more so when the reunion includes a journey of over 2,000 miles. This is exactly what happened to one lucky dog and his owner.
Jake is a 7-year-old Coonhound who went missing from Phoenix, Arizona last year. Jake’s owner, who has preferred to stay anonymous, has been frantically looking for his dog until Jake was found this April. And Jake wasn’t in Arizona anymore – instead, the pooch was in Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania.
The dog was found by Adam Herbaugh, who was walking his own two dogs at the time. Adam took Jake to the Companion Animal Hospital for vets to scan him for a microchip. Once that was done, they just called Jake’s owner in Phoenix and the great cross-country journey was ready to start!
Fortunately, Jake was in good health too, as the vet’s examination showed. Still, it’s a mystery for everyone (including Jake himself) how the pooch found himself at the other side of the country.
Jake’s owner was understandably shocked and ecstatic, once he got the phone call.
However, for personal reasons, he couldn’t make the journey to Jake. Fortunately, a local dog rescue group was there to help.
The president of A Darrah Bull Bully Rescue – Ranae Metz – told ABC News that he communicated with the owner via Facebook and offered his rescue’s assistance.
“My sister, Heather Shaw, is a transport coordinator [for Darrah Bull Bully Rescue]. She used Facebook groups which consist of transport volunteers to coordinate Jake’s trip home,” Metz said.
The organizations for the cross-country trek were done via Facebook posts that looked for “qualified volunteers” who could chime in and take the dog for a part of the journey from Pennsylvania to Arizona. Once the 20 volunteers were chosen and organized, the three-day journey started on May 18 and ended on May 21.
“Transports are generally done on Saturdays or Sundays when volunteers are more readily available,” Metz explained. He also added that his team frequently does these sorts of journeys to help take animals from high-kill shelters and transport them to a safe place.
The entire enterprise included 20 volunteers, 30 stops in nine different states, and three volunteers who offered Jake a place to sleep each night.
