Justin Scott and his wife Sara Scott are both EMTs working in Los Angeles. One day, Justin got the hardest call he had ever received. He was told to report to the scene of a car accident, and when he got there, he found the victim was one of his best friends.
After the loss of his friend, Justin found himself in a dark place. It was especially hard because his wife Sara worked opposite shifts. During the day, when his wife was working and his sons were at school, Justin was completely alone.
Justin needed companionship, and so he decided to adopt an emotional support dog.
Justin went to his local shelter and adopted a sweet dog named Shelby. On his Facebook page, Justin described the moment after he adopted her:
“I looked at her still in the shelter parking lot and told her, ‘I saved you and now I need you to save me,’ and she did. She pulled me out of the grips off hell. She’s my best friend and my shelter from the storm.”
On July 4th, 2018, tragedy struck again when Shelby got lost in the woods.
Justin and his family were camping in the Eastern Sierras over Fourth of July weekend. Suddenly, Shelby got spooked by a noise. She slipped out of her collar and ran off into the woods.
Justin and his family searched and searched for Shelby, but they had no luck. They went home without Shelby, and Justin was devastated.
Justin wasn’t ready to give up on Shelby yet. He contacted A Way Home For Animals, an organization that helps owners find their lost pets.
The organization’s founder, Babs Fry, was touched by Justin’s story. She said she would drive the eight to ten hours to the campground and look for Shelby.
Babs put out traps, hoping to capture Shelby. At first, Shelby returned to the campground, the last place she saw her owner. But the dog was frightened of all the bears in the area. Finally, she changed locations. Babs was able to follow her.
“She continued to return to the ground she had left looking for her owners but too frightened to compete with bears at the traps,” Babs wrote on Facebook. “Shelby changed locations and the Stars aligned so we could get her safe.”
After 28 days alone in the woods, Shelby finally walked into one of the traps. The pup was safe!
Babs brought Shelby back to her office, where she had a beautiful, emotional reunion with her loving family. Shelby’s tail wagged constantly, and she couldn’t stop smiling. She was so happy to be home!
Shelby is home safe and sound. She had her vet check a few hours ago, she got a few proactive things done but overall she’s looking great! Thank you to everyone that helped bring our Shelby home. We couldn’t have done it without the amazing outpour of help, prayers/ well wishes, and uplifting comfort. A small portion of the list that deserves our thanks is our family and friends, our extended AMR family, my A shift family and especially my partner Alfred Guerrero that kept my spirts up as much as he could while I was stuck at work wishing I could be up north looking, the campers and staff of Annette’s mono village, the Mono County Sheriffs dept, the Mono County Animal Control, everyone online and the people we came in contact with on our adventure to get our Shelby back. A special thank you to Babs Fry and Mike Noon, with out both of you and all your skills, effort and compassion we would have never gotten Shelby back. Thank you to everyone involved. And the last person to thank is my amazing wife Sara Scott, you went above and beyond to look for Shelby. You lived out of the explorer for a week while fending off bears and keeping eyes on the trap set and checking trail cams day and night. You always stayed positive and though we didn’t see each other for about a month between work and one of us going up north as we took turns, you loved me through it all. I love you! To wrap it up I want to say thank you to everyone involved personally or online, the Scott family loves you and can never repay you for bringing our family back together
Posted by Justin Scott on Wednesday, August 1, 2018
“No amount of words can express what it felt like to walk through that door and see this dog throw herself at her family and watch her family embrace her with love,” Babs said.
Justin, Sara, and their boys were just as excited as Shelby. The family couldn’t stop hugging and petting their beloved dog. Shelby happily rolled onto her back, letting her family pet her belly.
Now, Shelby is back at home, and she’s as happy as can be.
Justin is so glad to have his best friend back by his side. This pup went through so much, but now, she’s thankfully back where she belongs!
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