When Mitchell County Animal Rescue, Inc. employees answered a call on July 5 about a scared dog found near a highway, they figured that she’d run away due to fireworks the night before. They had no idea that they’d be face to face with a dog who’d been featured on their “missing” board for over a month.
The night before, a couple of Good Samaritans watching a local fireworks show saw the shadow of an animal run around their car, then hide underneath it. “We thought she was a fox,” Marilyn Williams, one of the Good Samaritans, told The Dodo.
They soon realized that the animal was, in fact, a dog, and they could tell by her eyes that she needed help. “She looked really scared,” Williams said.
At first, the nervous pup refused to budge from underneath the car. But the couple persisted, and eventually the dog dashed out and jumped directly into their car through the driver’s side door, finally safe.
Williams and her husband brought her home for the night, where they gave her food, water and cleaned up a small cut on her face. Throughout it all, the sweet dog stayed incredibly calm.
“She was very quiet and timid,” Williams said. “She never barked once. She never made a peep.”
After a cozy night’s sleep, the couple called Mitchell County Animal Shelter and brought the quiet pup in, hoping to reunite her with her owners.
As soon as employees at the shelter laid eyes on her, they recognized the dog as Fiona: a senior dog who went missing a month earlier during a family vacation. She was even featured in one of the “missing” posters taped to their front door.
Employees confirmed Fiona’s identity by scanning her for a microchip, then called her mom with the good news. Fiona, who was just as quiet at the shelter as she’d been at Williams’ house, perked up for the first time the moment her mom walked through the door.
“When Fiona heard her, she got all excited,” an employee at the shelter told The Dodo.
And when Fiona got to see her mom, her tail wouldn’t stop wagging. You can watch their emotional reunion here:
Fiona is now back home and safe with her family, and although Williams and her family miss the sweet pup they got to know that night, they’re happy she’s right back where she belongs.
