HEALED FROM SURGERY, SCOUT FINDS HIS HOME
You may remember a sweet dog named Scout that came back into our adoptions program earlier this year. He’d been adopted two years ago, and I was there to see his silhouette pacing back and forth with anticipation in the back seat of his new family’s car after that adoption. Whenever I watch dogs or cats go home with their new family, I am convinced that I will never see those animals in the shelter again. But sometimes, I am saddened to see a familiar face looking back at me when I’m at the shelter. This year, I was disappointed to see Scout’s sweet face there, abandoned by the family who had seemed so promising. I hadn’t seen Scout since that day two years ago, and he had gained a little bit of weight and a limp.
The shelter had called us when they scanned him and found our microchip. Because our adoptions department makes a lifelong commitment to all animals adopted from our organization, we rushed to pick him up from the local animal shelter. The limp worried us, as we had just had another dog returned with a torn ACL needing surgery – and Scout’s symptoms looked close to that dog’s symptoms. After a check up, it was confirmed…Scout would also need surgery to correct his torn ACL. We sent out a story about Scout to help raise funds for this unexpected surgery. We got a great response from people wanting to donate to his surgery fund and inquiring about this incredibly sweet dog.
We were able to get him quickly into surgery to repair his ACL. After surgery, he needed quite a while to recuperate, and his recovery was spent in a loving foster home. During this time, people kept emailing to check on Scout, and many wanted to welcome him into their family for the rest of his life.
One such couple, Scott and Lesley, contacted us and, although Scout wasn’t healed completely, they really wanted to meet him. The rest, as they say, is history. After the first meeting, they knew that he was the perfect addition to their family, and once Scout was fully recovered, he would go home with them.
On the day of his adoption, Scott, Scout’s new “dad,” picked him up at our office, and we could all see that his home was going to be a great one. After leaving the office, they drove to the airport to welcome Lesley back home from a trip, and we hear that it was the best homecoming ever.
Scout recently returned from a road trip with Scott and Lesley to visit their families in Colorado and Missouri. Everyone loved him–especially the nieces and nephews! Scott and Lesley were amazed with how well he did with children, and how good he was in the car. “We are so happy to have him in our family,” Scott says.
After the loss of his home and the long recovery from his surgery, Scout now goes on walks, hikes, travels, chases his ball–and, above all, has found his true home. Congratulations to Scout and his forever family!
-Autumn Wagner
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