Lost at Molas Pass

So often we hear news going around of how bad people are.  How people don’t care.  Who killed who.  And who stoled what.  It’s a hard world out there and not always easy to see the good that is still around.  Though when someone is truly in need lost, injured, or trapped you really get to see the people around come together to help. On July 10th, 2013 it was a lost dog that brought those of us at a rest area together in hopes of finding her home.  This is true story from my trip down the Million Dollar Highway.

Miki and I are traveling across Country for San Diego Comic Con and Power Con this summer.  Doing a big trip like this takes a lot, so we want to make the most of it each time we do.  Going to tourist stops, taking the scenic roads, and checking out National Parks.  In 2009 we took the Million Dollar Highway down from Colorado towards Arizona and found this road breathtaking so we decided to do that trip again.  This time planning a better time of day to not be driving through any of it in the dark.  Along our way we stopped at the different stops and saw the waterfalls and paths.  Enjoying the trip.  It was afternoon and we have gone through most of areas we remembered from our last trip, when we stopped at this rest area.  Stretching our legs and taking notice to the life around us.

It was here that I watched as a chipmunk and a young girl were taking interest in each other.  It was amusing to watch how close the chipmunk got.  We started talking with the family, while walking up to the scenic lookout.  This is when things got different, as another family with a dog was coming up and a pitbull was right behind them trying to check out their dog.  They picked up their dog and tried to get it away from the pitbull.  The rest of us realized that no one was taking responsibility.

Miki ran over to the edge and called out to the cars parked in the lot.  To find out if anyone was missing their dog.  People gathered around, as the pitbull was lead down to the main lot.  Some got water for her, others sat nearby just petting her.  She was pretty, well behaved, had a clean collar on, and very friendly.  There was staff at the rest area cleaning up the bathrooms, as they were brought over.  There was talk of calling Animal Control.  This was something the crowd was against.  No one wanted to see her go into the hands of a business that would put her down.

Miki and I have done animal rescue a lot in our life.  Though with the bug being as full as it is and staying at other people’s homes we knew we could not speak up this time.  At home we have our cat Sony, which we saved as it was abandoned and dieing when we found her.  We had to bottle feed her and get her up to strength and she’s been in our family since.  Helping animals is something we’ve always done and feel is very important.  So I was excited when hearing a man step up saying he’ll take the dog. 

Jason was on vacation in the area and would be willing to take the dog for a week.  As the owner is located.  He would give his number to the staff here and they would make missing posters.  He even got a leash for her.  The staff agreed to this.  One of which said that if she had her own truck she would take her in, as she loves pitbulls.  Though before anyone made any actions the big question was where is the owner of this girl?  No one wanted to just leave incase the owner was nearby.

One of the rangers went to check down the hill.  While the rest of us waited at the top.  Knowing there was not much we could do, Miki and I offered to help with getting the news out about a Found dog and caught some pictures.  Once the ranger came back towards the top of the hill side, there was someone with him.  The owner was found. 

She was out doing drawings of the view.  Her pitbull, Gracie was sleeping behind her.  Though she turned around at one point and Gracie was gone and she has been looking for her.  We were happy to hear that Gracie does have a chip in her so she would of found her way home.  The best part here was the two of them coming together, everyone could see how happy Gracie was to see her.  This truly was a happy ending.

The support that came from all around to help Gracie as she was up at the rest stop alone was a wonderful site to see.  Knowing all these people put their vacations, their travels on pause till we could make sure that this one dog was reunited with her home.  This is one of those moments that I treasure and want to share.  Gracie is safe and we all got back on the road.

Have you ever stopped to help a lost animal or injured animal? If so tell us your story.  Please share adventures of lost animals, comments and questions below.