Missing Area Dog Found 900 Miles Away In Texas, Flown Home

March 23, 2011

An Escambia County, Alabama, dog is back home today after being found 900 miles away in Brownsville, Texas.

Shady, a German shepherd mix went missing back in January. She somehow traveled from her Brewton, Alabama, home across four states to south Texas. Found wondering the streets of Brownsville with a pack of stray dogs, Brownsville animal control officers located her microchip and were able to contact owner Jodie Wilson back in Alabama.

“Receiving the phone call was shocking, knowing exactly where she was at and how far away it was with her being unharmed was utterly amazing! After being gone for so long we just assumed the worst. This is a wild but amazing story,” Wilson said.

Danny Ritter, a volunteer with Pilots N Paws flew Shady from Houston to Brewton for a happy reunion.

“We will never know how she got that far but Jesus was traveling with her because he put his angels to work. Shady’s guardian angels have rescued her, sheltered her, arranged for her to come home, transported her, watched over her, donated money for her journey home, flew her home and cared for her while she was on her big adventure,” Wilson said.

And Wilson’s advice for other pet owners?  “Microchip your pet, it works!”

Pictured: Members of Shady’s family met her at the Brewton Airport after she was flown back from Texas. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

35 Responses to “Missing Area Dog Found 900 Miles Away In Texas, Flown Home”

  1. Animal rescuer in California on April 6th, 2011 11:09 pm

    What a fantastic story. It took so many caring people to get Shady home. What a great reminder to folks to get their pet microchipped. Yes, Vicki, I also have heard aol of those lame excuses for not getting it done. A big thumbs up to the wonderful organization “Pilots and Paws” who volunteer thousands of miles of airtime to see that pets get safely returned to their rightful owner. It is such a pleasure to hear such a heartwarming happy ending among so many abuse and neglect cases, along with people who think nothing of dropping their pets off a at shelter knowing full well their fate as due to irresponsible overbreeding and failure to spay and neuter pets, have shelters full. Over 50,000 pets are euthanized each year in the nations shelters. A big thank you to each and every person that played a part in geting Shady home!!!

  2. Pauline on April 6th, 2011 8:19 pm

    What an uplifting and amazing story and Thankyou to Pilots and Paws and everyone who was involved in getting Shady home .Our city gives us lifetime animal licences at a much reduced rate of $15.00 one time fee if we microchip our pets here in Oshawa ,all our animals are microchipped so along with their Get Me Home Tags they have a good chance to be found and returned if they somehow got lost .Thankyou so much for sharing such a great story , we need good news like this more often Pauline

  3. Just An Old Soldier on March 25th, 2011 7:40 pm

    What an incredible canine adventure. :)

    Wonder where his travels took him, and what he saw there…amazing story.

  4. Proud to be a silly.... What am I? on March 25th, 2011 4:19 pm

    Shady is sooo cute! Who knows if your pet has been across the united states? I’m so glad! she’s home safely!

  5. Sabine King on March 24th, 2011 5:11 pm

    This is an awesome story. My two shepherd lab babies that we gave to my sister to look after are missing (my sister lost them). Somewhere in the core of my soul, I know that they are on their way home to Arizona…. I expect them to show up on our doorstep and say, mommie I am finally home.

    Dog babies are amazing and they know where home is. Awesome affirmation of the power of the human heart and the kindness of others in understanding these dog babies are our kids…..

  6. Freddy on March 24th, 2011 10:05 am

    One thing is for sure, this fellow sure knows how to look at and smile for the camera.
    And you can tell he’s as happy as a Frog eatin Flies to be back with his best friends.

  7. gatorfan1 on March 24th, 2011 12:11 am

    sounds like Milo and Otis :) love that movie

  8. John on March 23rd, 2011 10:10 pm

    It great to hear some good news with everything going on in our nation. God bless

  9. Bill L on March 23rd, 2011 10:07 pm

    great story glad for the family just be very leary when they want to micro-chip people, in the future that will be coming

  10. doofus on March 23rd, 2011 9:29 pm

    This story… I like it. It makes me feel good, both for the dog and the people. Makes you wonder if the dog got picked up by a trucker. Wonder if she made it to mexico for vacation? What a story to tell the other dogs…

  11. rosie on March 23rd, 2011 5:15 pm

    WHAT A GREAT STORY, ITS GOOD WHRN PEOPLE PULL TOGATHER TO HELP OUR FURRY FRIENDS. ITS LIKE A ”LASSIE” STORY COME TO LIFE.
    I LOVE MY DOG VERY MUCH AND IF SHE WAS LOST I WOULD BE CRAZY,…THANKS FOR PRINTING A ”MAKES YOU SMILE” KINDA STORY..

  12. dog on March 23rd, 2011 4:23 pm

    i like that dog.it has a nice color

  13. interested reader on March 23rd, 2011 3:41 pm

    The Bible says that God watches out for the lillies of the field and the sheep on the hills. This truly awesome story tells us He also watches out for our furry friends so we know He watches over us. Blessings to all that contributed to Shady being cared for and returned home safely.

  14. momto2wonderfuldogs on March 23rd, 2011 3:07 pm

    what a WONDERFUL story, so happy for the family and the precious dog. I know he was just as happy to be reunited with his family as they were with him. This is the kind of story we need to read about everyday instead of all the fussing and carrying on..this is what life and family is truly about. CONGRATULATIONs on getting your family member back and thank you to all involved in taking care of him and getting him back home! You certainly have a lot to be thankful about his year…love that beautiful baby!

  15. just call me joe on March 23rd, 2011 1:56 pm

    I’m so happy for them!! What a beautiful and very lucky dog!!

    My dogs are microchipped and also wear tags with their names, our names, address and phone numbers.

  16. Vicki on March 23rd, 2011 11:10 am

    Great Story!
    Microchips are great but my added advice is for pet owners to ALWAYS keep tags on their pets since microchips aren’t visible & the average person don’t have scanners and never think to take it to a vet or shelter to have it scanned.
    The ususal excuses need to be put to rest such as:
    ” he never goes outside”, “he never leaves the yard” & the excuse that holds the #1 spot “He just had a bath & I forgot to put his tags on”! You may not drive your RV often or take your boat out on the water but do you remove the tag from the vehicle until you get ready to drive it? I think not. It’s time to be responsible pet owners……..

  17. Animal Shetler Employee on March 23rd, 2011 10:55 am

    This is an amazing story! I work at an animal shelter in florida, and we see so many dogs and cats that do not have any idenification or microchipping and alot of them don’t find their way back to their family. I know microchipping is somthing that I along with my co-workers stress to people adopting animal from our shelter. I will be sharing Shady’s story with everyone, in hopes that they too wil see the improtance of microchipping and registering it! Thank you for sharing!

  18. EMD on March 23rd, 2011 10:11 am

    I love stories like this. How wonderful!

  19. Mytwocents on March 23rd, 2011 9:38 am

    REFRESHING story. Makes me feel good to read happy stories William. This has made my day. I have a little dog and I love her so much.

  20. atmore on March 23rd, 2011 9:31 am

    Aww I just love stories like these! I was having a pretty crazy morning and I saw the headline and stopped everything to read it and now i’m in a good mood and not worried about the little crazy things that really even dont matter! Happy for this family and Shady! =)

  21. unchainyourdog on March 23rd, 2011 8:56 am

    Wonderful group of volunteers ~ Pilots N Paws ~ “Saving the lives of innocent animals”

    http://pilotsnpaws.org/

    Thank you, William, for sharing this heartwarming story!

  22. Claudia Medina on March 23rd, 2011 8:38 am

    This is a wonderful story! Congrats to the family and Shady for their reunion <3

  23. Brownsville Living on March 23rd, 2011 8:27 am

    We are so happy to hear of this happy reunion! Welcome back home to Bama Shady and thanks for visiting Brownsville, Texas. :-)

  24. Shady's Granny on March 23rd, 2011 8:19 am

    We are so happy to see that people still have compassion for others and love for animals. It seems that ours newsways are filled will hate, crime, and drama. It is refreshing to read a story with a fairytale endind—May they all live happily everafter!!!

  25. concerned citizen on March 23rd, 2011 8:13 am

    Wonderful uplifting story!! With so much animal abuse in the news, it is really great to see so much caring by so many people for this lost dog!!

  26. JUDY MASEK on March 23rd, 2011 7:20 am

    yep, it pays to microchip your dog :)

  27. Carolyn Harris on March 23rd, 2011 7:10 am

    This is amazing!! Happy for all.

  28. If Only on March 23rd, 2011 7:01 am

    If only dogs could talk…..man would she have a story to tell!!!

  29. Elizabeth on March 23rd, 2011 6:22 am

    Wonder how she got *that* far from home.

  30. walnuthill girl on March 23rd, 2011 6:21 am

    So glad to hear a happy story, there are so many misplaced animals in this world its a blessing to hear such a great story, I have a pug and boston terrier that stay inside but you never know when they can get on an animal run when they go outside and they are not microchip YET but that will be happening cause they are my world and if you love your animals you need to do this thanks for really opening my eyes.

  31. art on March 23rd, 2011 6:06 am

    this has got to be one of the greatest stories i have read in along time. keeps me going. gives me hope for this planet.

  32. Animal Lover on March 23rd, 2011 3:33 am

    What a blessing!

  33. Joe on March 23rd, 2011 1:27 am

    only dog lovers can appreciate this! wonderful!

  34. READER OF NEWS on March 23rd, 2011 12:51 am

    wow!! wonderful story so happy for all

  35. AL on March 23rd, 2011 12:29 am

    YAY!!! Happy story and great job microchipping!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under FEATURE TOP STORY, Features, News