On Sunday, a German shepherd mix was reunited with his family after spending seven months roaming 80 miles along fields and roadways ranging from Pennsylvania to the Hudson Valley of New York.
Last May, Teddy’s adopters spotted the dog’s picture on social media; he had been scheduled to be euthanized at a shelter in California. His previous owner surrendered him after he was brutally attacked by other dogs. Teddy had suffered severe bite wounds to his shoulders and needed surgery. After that, he was placed on the adoption list, but was so traumatized by his previous situation, he refused to interact with anyone and just sat and shivered in the corner of his shelter cage.
And so, in a leap of faith, Salvatore Della Monica and his family, fell in love with Teddy’s story and flew from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles and adopted him. They drove him home, and after a few days, Teddy became more comfortable and started to settle into family life. Teddy’s life was improving.
One weekend in June 2021, when he had been with his family for about three weeks and doing fine, they took him on a trip to Stroudsburg, PA.
He seemed to come alive outside, sniffing around and wagging his tail in enjoyment. One minute he was there, and the next – he’d found a hole in the fence and escaped. He was gone.
Salvatore Della Monica Gofundme
For the last seven months, the family looked everywhere and posted flyers, contacted shelters, veterinary offices, the police and worked with tracking organizations to find him. Sadly, nothing worked – Teddy was gone. No one ever expected to hear from Teddy again.
And THEN came the incredible news!
According to the family’s GoFundMe page, now raising donations for Teddy’s veterinary expenses, the dog’s journey is definitely one for the record books. Pets Alive Animal Sanctuary located in Middletown had received a call from a woman who spotted a stray dog walking along the highway on I-84. Other calls about the same dog had been reported, and it was thought the same stray had been roaming in the area for at least two weeks.
State troopers had also spotted the dog, but attempts at capturing him were to no avail. And on Friday, he was found hiding in a barn on a nearby farm. The pup had no intentions of letting anyone get near him, but that all changed when rescuers reached out with a rotisserie chicken placed in a humane trap.
The dog was badly injured; he had a severe limp and was nothing more than skin over bones. He was taken to the Catskill Animal Hospital where to everyone’s surprise – who thought he had been an abandoned dog just kicked out of someone’s car along the way, had a microchip.
Teddy has been returned to his family, and needless to say they are all ecstatic. Please remember, had the dog not been microchipped, there would have been no reunion. And let’s not forget – keep the information up-to-date.
Teddy does suffer from a wide range of health problems including severe bilateral dysplasia, bullet fragments in his hind leg, a fractured sacrum, tick borne illnesses and a fractured tooth.
He’s a miracle dog. He was tracked, saved and care for by so many wonderful people until he was reunited with us. We are now back home in D.C. with Teddy safely in his warm bed while we arrange further care for him to get better. We have (by popular demand) made him an Instagram account and if you’d like to follow his recovery and hopefully “boring” adventures you can find him @teddy_the_miracle_dog
GoFundMe by family
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Dog and fox meet at the vet’s office.
