Good samaritans abound in my circle of life these days.

Because I’m so busy lately and because my dogs are not getting the kind of attention & exercise they’re used to, I’ve hired someone to help out with the dogs. On Monday, the fellow who had my male Australian Shepherd, Austin, ended up losing him. When he finally phoned me, Austin had been missing for quite some time already. I immediately came to the area where they were to help find him. I won’t go over the long involved story but needless to say, despite my recent frustration with the dogs, I was still incredibly desperate to find Austin.

During my search I met a woman biking on the forest trails with her two dogs and she spent a couple hours helping to find Austin, plus a few others who willingly joined in. I looked and called, and walked, and cried, and called until it was so dark that I couldn’t see anymore. Then I received a phone call (on my husband’s cell phone that I had borrowed) saying Austin had been found. Austin had been seen on a busy bypass wandering aimlessly down the middle of that highway with vehicles just barely missing him. Two separate men stopped to try and get him off the road. The end result, after much determination, was that one of the men was finally successful in getting him off the road and into his vehicle. He lives out of town but, again through the efforts of many good samaritans, one person called another and another and this fellow was connected to call me. I would have been devastated had Austin been hit by a vehicle. To me, an animal being put quietly and gently to sleep is the most humane way for their life to end — not in some painful, tragic accident after hours of fear.

So, the old boy is back home and back to his old self. Though I will say he had a very restless night Monday, up numerous times to go potty and to drink water. He’s not used to eating anything but real food and I suspect he must have been given some dry dog treats by his loving rescuer, which would explain his desperate need to drink so much. By morning he had worked through that and all is well once again.

I can’t tell you how grateful I am for the multiple good samaritans that came our way on Monday. Tell me about a good samaritan you’ve come across recently.

 “Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.”  ~William James

10 thoughts on “Good Samaritans”

  1. I was so thankful to read that Austin was safe at the end of the day. Whew! I can well imagine the panic in your heart. So great of people to pitch in like they did to help search him out.

    I would have written sooner but I read these things on the iPod and rarely crank up the big computer. Hate typing on that little iPod. Ugh. And those things change words on one so what you end up with isn’t what you meant to say!

  3. Oh man, I know exactly what you went through when Austin was missing. I was devastated when Jackson disappeared last month. We searched for him from sunup till past sundown. I was so worried that we would be hit by a car (he disappeared from a dog park that’s right beside a major highway). I’m still amazed by how many people helped spread the word on Twitter & Facebook, on top of the friends who came out in the rain to help us search for Jackson. It’ll always be a mystery how he found his way home, but I know that every person who helped had a part in him being back with us. They’re all my good samaritans!

    So happy that you got Austin back and that he isn’t any worse for wear. Tell him to never lose his humans again!

  6. I can only say thank goodness. And gulp. I helped some people catch their wildly running away lab a few weeks ago. His name was, aptly, Hurricane. I followed him in my car (in a busy downtown area) and got him corralled in a parking lot and turned around so at least he was running back towards his wonders, he was just a goofball two year old who slipped out the door when they went to pick up the paper off the porch. I am so glad I helped because I know that horrible feeling until you et them home.

  10. What a wrenching story that finally comes okay in the end! I’m glad this turned out so well. It’s hard to imagine how he avoided being hit on the bypass. Nice shots including the head-in-the-snow shot.

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