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Pets Welcome: That time my dog ran away.

Westley & Buttercup

By Jo Published 4 years ago 7 min read
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Barstow, CA

Four years ago I adopted Westy. His name is short for Westley as I intended to find a second dog some day, which I have and her name is Buttercup. When I found Westy on petfinder I was briefly living in Portland, OR among a few wild years of fleeting travel. I drove four and a half hours one way to Moses Lake, WA just to meet him. When I returned to Portland I put the deposit down on him first thing in the morning and picked him up the following week.

Westley is a sweet gentle dog and I am certain he is my soul mate. He reminds me and my family so much of an all black long haired German shepherd we had until I was five, that dog used to protect me and follow me everywhere. I was baffled that Westy sat in a shelter for a month with out anyone even calling about him until I came along. He is about 40lbs, black with chevron stripes on his paws, one crooked lower canine, curled dew claws which one is black and the other is white. His tail isn’t quite a nub but it definitely isn’t full, it bobs up and down when he hears me cooing at him or he meets a dog he likes. He has an obnoxious bark when he’s startled or guarding but is very gentle when he meets whoever startled him. He has a way of getting along with nearly everyday he meets, especially ones who don’t typically like other pups.

About a month after adopting him I drove to Denver with him and a friend. I got arrested along the way in Idaho after getting caught in a speed trap and the police digging for a pipe that I didn't even know was in my car. It was an ordeal and a story in itself. Early July came around and I booked it back to Humboldt county to work in the cannabis industry as I typically do for the last few years of my life. We were living in the heart of the Emerald Triangle. Where all three counties meet; Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity. The black market and old time growers reside in these hills along with cattle ranchers. Many of which have staff that’s told to shoot any dog they see. There are feral and loose dogs out there that will kill live stock. Some of you might think this is impossible, “a dog kill a cow? How?” Well, someone I knew has a dog that teamed up with another dog to chase a cow scared until she broke her leg then they mauled her to death. They came home covered in blood and an angry phone call that evening confirmed a mauled cow.

The day I adopted Westy

On the morning that Westy went missing I was trying to keep him in the tiny shared staff cabin before going to town. He got out after someone left the door open. Typically it would have been fine, just call for him and he comes running back after a little while. Well, not today. We had a stray husky mix that the collective took in just a week before. He loved her and got lost wandering with her. I let my coworkers know he was out and took the 45 minute drive into town. I returned about three hours later and no Westley. That night it rained and stormed and thundered so loud it’s like the weather knew how I felt inside.

My friend who had been living on a property about 4 miles towards town called to tell me he saw Westy and the stray dog in the driveway the night before and failed to lure them in. I had once lived and stayed on that property with my dog so he was familiar. I was devastated and driving up and down winding dirt roads screaming his name. This area has sparse phone service, wild boars, mountain lions, feral dogs, coyotes, and of course staff that was paid and ordered to shoot any dog they see. Six days went by.

In those six days I called Kmud (our local radio station that everyone listened to), I posted fliers at our general store, I called the vet, I posted on our tiny facebook group, I drove up and down roads calling his name every time I could break from work. I also had to drive to Sacramento to pick up my friends from the airport only for one them to find out they had to fly back immediately due to a sick family member. My car, a XC Volvo, literally stopped running in the middle of the 101 in Laytonville. She broke down for good. Thankfully I had just bought a Blazer and it was safely waiting back on the farm. In the mean time I had AAA tow me to Sacramento. I drove a rental car back as far as I could and left it behind at the last Enterprise before the next town I had to get to. From Willits I hitchhiked to Garberville. I left fliers around town and from there hitch hiked up the hill which was difficult and made it partially back until a friend could pick me up.

2000 Volvo XC

The side of the mountain we were on was Humboldt and if you kept driving the long road from town past Palo Verde it turned into dirt and dropped into Mendocino county. I had just two friends living on that side of the mountain to which they were altered of my missing dog immediately even though they were 15 miles away. One of them, Jon, called me on the 7th day to notify me that he went over to the guys house who had my dog! But only after the following happened: My phone rang and my mom was hysterically crying on the other line saying “they found Westy!” My heart sank and I thought he was dead. My dad grabbed the phone from her hysteria fit and said “They found Westy, he’s safe and he’s at a guy’s house. He’s going to call you and you can go get him”

Westy’s collar had my phone number and my moms number engraved on a tube. Hers was on there for safe measures but came second in line. He called her first. When he called me the number that showed up was someones I had saved. I had met this person on the side of the road when my car broke down a month previously. My tire came off my car thanks to a faulty brake job, I was reimbursed and avoiding suing the garage, or dying because it happened when I was driving 30 miles per hour. I was basically being held hostage by a drunk mechanic while this was happening but that ordeal is another story for another day! However while I was sitting on the side of the road this guy pulled up and turns out we knew some of the same people and exchange numbers for work contacts.

The guy who called me was a middle aged hippy dude who grew up out there and rode his dirt bike barefoot around his property. He might have kept my dog had his worker not seen the number on the collar but I am thankful he found him because he picked Westy up off of the infamous Drewer’s ranch. You remember, the ranchers have staff that shoots stray dogs?

An hour later I arrived with a friend and took Westy home. He jumped on me as soon as he saw me and I definitely cried. That was about four years ago. We’ve been through a lot together including traveling across country twice and my camper burning down on the side of the I5. Last year I found his sister, Buttercup, on craigslist and we’ve been together for a little over a year. She’s the polar opposite of him, a royal pain but super loyal, lovable, and ball obsessed. They work well together despite how much she annoys him sometimes. They fit into my life perfectly and they’ve come nearly everywhere I’ve been. They have been the reasons to drag myself out of depressive fits and give me a reason to wake up in the morning. Literally, Buttercup wakes me up at 7:30 even though I’d like to sleep til noon some of those days. They’re the only reason I’m active and they give me a reason to keep going. They depend on me just as much as I depend on them. I love them beyond words.

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About the Creator

Jo

Jo is the owner of OZMA autonomy. She is a 'fly by the seat of her' pants kind of person. From a young age Jo has been someone living on the fringes of society; overcoming struggle, DV survivor, traveler, & jane of many trades.

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