Owner Travels Cross-Country to Save His Dog from Kill Shelter

CaliSource © Shutterstock

Not all dogs who end up in an animal shelter have a happy ending by finding a forever home with a family that loves them. Sadly, thousands of dogs are euthanized before they get their second chance in life because the shelters cannot afford to keep them for extended periods. Thankfully, there are animal lovers out there who are willing to take extreme measures, even if it means saving the life of just one dog. I Heart Dogs reported the story of a Kentucky couple called Jeff and Joy Farmer. Their 14-year-old Labrador had recently died, and they were both heartbroken. Neither of them was sure that they could ever welcome another dog into their home and love them in the same way. It was a photograph of a rescue dog online that changed their attitude. As soon as they saw a picture of Cali, they instantly fell in love with her. At that time, Cali was living in a kill shelter in California, and her picture had appeared online in a desperate bid to find her a home quickly. The Farmers were able to travel to Las Vegas to meet Cali, and they knew that she was the perfect dog for them.

However, there was a problem that meant they needed to act quickly if they were to welcome Cali into their home. The kill shelter had plans to have Cali euthanized the following Tuesday, as they had policies in place relating to the length of time that they could wait to find a home for a dog before they were euthanized. This predominantly related to a lack of funds to support the long-term care of dogs. The Farmers knew that they couldn’t let the kill shelter euthanize Cali, and they were willing to take any steps possible to prevent this from happening. They agreed to adopt the dog immediately, and they then began to make plans for how they could get her from California back to their home in Kentucky. Both time and distance were a problem in this scenario. Initially, they thought of flying Cali back from Las Vegas with them, but this was not possible. This meant that they had to turn to plan B, which was to hire someone to transport Cali back to Kentucky on their behalf. Sadly, this plan also fell flat on its face as things did not go quite as planned.

When the transporting company arrived to collect Cali, Jeff handed over her leash and asked them to keep an eye on the dog. Things started to take a downward turn when Cali escaped almost immediately without having even left Las Vegas. Although the Farmers were devastated, they knew they had to find their new canine family member as soon as possible. One of their strategies was to use social media to raise awareness of Cali’s disappearance. The search was helped when many people shared the Farmers’ posts online. It helped when the posts also caught the eye of an organization called the Las Vegas Trapping Girls. As soon as this organization was aware of Cali’s disappearance, they made it their mission to reunite her with her new family as soon as possible. Cali was missing for a long seven days, during which time the Farmers and their children were very upset. Jeff also said that he and his wife were very angry that the transportation company had lost their dog as soon as she was in their care.

Finally, Cali was found after being missing for a week. The Las Vegas Trapping Girls had set up a trap to capture Cali, and they were successful in rescuing the dog. The Farmers were obviously delighted that she had finally been found safe and well, which meant that she would be returned to them. The Farmers had lost faith in using transportation companies, but they needed some way to get Cali back home with them. Therefore, Jeff made the decision to go and pick up the dog himself. He made the journey to Las Vegas on the first available plane and then hired a rental car to travel back home with Cali. The cost of adopting Cali was quickly rising, and it had become far more expensive than he imagined. However, it was worth it just to make sure that Cali was safe and well, and that they could finally settle her into her new home. As it was such a long trip back to Kentucky from Las Vegas, Cali and Jeff had to make many stops throughout the journey. They even spent some time in Utah sightseeing. Although it was a long trip home, it gave Cali and her new dad lots of time to bond.

Eventually, Jeff and Cali made it back home, and Cali could finally settle into her new life with her family. Although she is still taking time to adjust to her new environment, it is clear that she is a lot happier and safer now that she is part of the Farmer family. Cali’s story attracted so much attention that the Farmers decided to set Cali up with her own Instagram page. They use this page to update Cali’s followers with her progress and to show that she is settling into her forever home well. The photos clearly show that Cali is now happy with her new family and that it was worth all the effort to get her safely home. This is a wonderful story of how a dog lover can completely transform the life of a dog. Cali was just days away from being euthanized when the Farmer family came to her rescue. They saved her life and gave her the second chance that she deserved. The Farmers were even prepared to take extreme measures to prevent the shelter from killing a healthy dog and to offer her a life of love and affection as part of their family.

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