November 4th, 2007 | File under Personal

Friday night was one of my top 2 worst nights ever. Fortunately, it ended with one of my happiest mornings.

The day started off great. Megan and I spent most of it cleaning and doing boring normal house stuff. I finished up some album designs, ordered some proofs, and some other typical stuff. We went to Ikea and came back around 9:30 to eat dinner. That’s when the nightmare began.

Regular readers of this blog might have read about George, our (now) one year old beagle/shepherd puppy. He came into our lives in April when we got him from a rescue near Pittsburgh. He had been abandoned by his owners and left to fend for himself in their backyard after they moved. He was under 6 months old at that time. The fact that he made it through that period is a testament to his ability to survive.

Anyway, Megan had fed George and then took him into the backyard to do his doggie business. Somehow - and we still don’t know how - he got out of his leash and ran. We live on a very busy road and him getting loose was always our nightmare. Now it was happening.

I was in my office and heard megan scream for George. I bolted outside and saw him running up the driveway. I called for him but he thought we were playing and he ran the other way, straight onto Bethlehem Pike.

He was hit instantly by an SUV going at least 40mph. It was like watching a horror movie. I doubt I’ll ever forget that scene and the sound that the car hitting him made.

The good news is that he got right up. The bad news is that he made a run for it. We chased him but it was futile. He is just too fast.

Some of our neighbors saw what happened and immediately offered their assistance. These are people that we barely knew, but they - without hesitation - offered to help.

We looked for him with our neighbors and the police for over an hour. Megan and I continued the search by foot and by car until nearly 4am. At that point, with our flashlight batteries dying, we had to call it a night and wait for the morning light. We waited at home with the doors open and the lights on, hoping that he would find his way back. Megan posted about him on Craigslist. We both broke down when looking at his pictures.

When we got him he was sick and scared. Over the past 6 months we cared for him and helped him grow. He had become such a huge part of our lives, and now he was out in the cold night, hurt, scared, lost, and possibly worse. The thought of what he might be going through was crippling.

As soon as the sun started to come up Megan started to walk around the neighborhood and put up posters. I made a quick run to home depot to get some supplies. This was about 10 hours after he went missing. Just as I was about to check out, my phone rings.

Someone had found George! He was alive and ok! I almost fainted. I called Megan to tell her the news. It was the best phone call I ever made.

Somehow during the night he crossed Bethlehem Pike at least 3 times and ended up a couple miles from home. He went up on someone’s porch and was barking at their dogs. A wonderful neighbor - the woman that called me - heard him and took him in. She saw his tags, called me, and fed him. In 15 minutes I was there and reunited with him. It was amazing.

During the 10 hours he was gone he braved the 40 degree night, evaded traffic, and made his way to her house. When I picked him up he was obviously very tired and scared but otherwise ok. He had a slight limp where he was hit on his back leg and a few scrapes, but nothing was broken and he wasn’t bleeding.

We took him to the vet and they were pleasantly surprised at how lucky he was. It could have been so much worse.

We came home yesterday and all slept. I’ve never seen him (or us) so tired.

I want to publicly thank our wonderful neighbors, the Springfield Township Police Department, and the wonderful woman that took him in. Their generosity and willingness to help was inspiring and humbling.

I also want to thank George for surviving. He is apparently made out of pretty tough stuff.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 8:14 am and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.