There are certain places that humans (and other animals roughly our size), don’t belong. The open ocean? Boom, shark-food. The Florida Everlgades? Alligator snacks. In one incredible story, we see just how one dog survived its accidental journey into a very dangerous place.
If you are a dog lover, this story is pretty scary.
Theo is a pit bull mix that is two-year-old and was looking for a forever home. As a rescue, he had been saved off the street of Miami, Florida. In April, Ashley Tirado, a woman vacationing in the area with her family, saw the pup walking on the streets and opened the door to the SUV. Theo hopped right in without any issues!
“He chose us,” Ashley said. “He hopped right into our car. He cuddled with us all night until the shelters were open where we could drop him off.”
Ashley and her family decided to adopt the dog on the spot!
While the decision had been made, they still need to make sure Theo was ready to be adopted. He had some injuries (it looked like he had been stabbed in the eye with a stick), and he needed a full medical check-up to ensure he was totally fine to take home. They also needed to give people time to come looking if they had lost him.
https://www.facebook.com/Theodores-Journey-The-Everglades-Warrior-100645645525838/photos/100645838859152
The family lived in New Jersey and needed a pet courier to get him back home while they flew.
As the family got back home, a van was sent with Theo after he was all ready to go. The family arrived fine, but as the van was driving, it ran off the road and flipped over into a dangerous part of the Everglades in Florida.
When the first responders arrived on scene and opened the door to the van, Theo bolted out!
In normal situations, this wouldn’t have been an issue. In the alligator-infested swamps, however, it was a real problem. The first responders couldn’t chase him and he was suddenly gone.
The Everglades are 8,000 miles of hot swamp with 200,000 thousand alligators living there.
When Ashley heard what happened, she launched into action knowing that time was of the essence. She got onto Facebook and got the word out. The post was shared over 2,000 and helped inspire people to be on the lookout, with some even going out to try and find him!
After over a week of searching – he was found!
“Theo IS SAFE – Thanks to His Dream Team and all of your thoughts…What a week! These gals have been out with alligators, panthers, pythons amid the thick brush day and night to get this boy to safety and he was just waiting for them! He is waiting for you Ashley!”
We don’t know exactly what the rescue looked like, but we can be sure that it was a dangerous time for Theo and all the people looking for him. Ashley broke into tears when she was finally reunited with her friend. What a story!
Check out a news story about brave Theo below!
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