“Some dogs are smarter than you think. How did she know how to walk 10 miles back to the shelter?” said Loretta Hyde, founder of the El Paso Animal Rescue League.
Staff at this Texas animal shelter were shocked when their former rescue dog named Bailey rang the doorbell of their Ring facility at 1 a.m. asking to be let in.
They couldn’t believe that this dog was able to find his way back to the shelter and ring their doorbell to let them know he was there.
Despite the constant presence of dogs in my daily life, stories like this still manage to fascinate me and surprise me with the intelligence of dogs.
Bailey walked 10 miles
Bailey is a shepherd-husky mix who, until recently, was the shelter’s longest-serving resident. She has won the hearts of every staff member because she has spent the most time with them during her long stay at the shelter.
They loved her and she loved them.
Bailey finally found his forever home, and everyone at the shelter was thrilled with the news.
They hoped to see her again someday in the future, maybe if she came to the shelter with her new dad, but they never imagined that almost a month after her adoption, she would come home to them.
And no, she wasn’t abandoned by her family or anything like that. What actually happened is completely unbelievable.
According to Bailey’s father (Micah) and the shelter’s founder (Hyde), in this moment of utter confusion and misfortune, Bailey got scared while out walking with her father and ran away.
“He chased her for two miles and she disappeared from sight. That’s when he let us know Bailey was on the loose.” Hyde said for USA Today.
They immediately posted about Bailey on every one of their social media channels, urging everyone to notify them immediately if they saw her anywhere.
They received tons of messages and they quickly realized that even though Bailey was missing, she wasn’t completely lost and seemed to know her way.
“I said to one of the ladies looking for her, ‘She’s on her way to the shelter!’ and she said, ‘Loretta, you’re crazy.’” Hyde said.
She rang the doorbell at 1:15 in the morning, saying she wanted to come in.
The truth was that Loretta was absolutely right.
Three days after her disappearance, Bailey found her way back to the shelter, located nearly 10 miles from where she disappeared.
To everyone’s surprise, she came to the front door and rang the doorbell, asking if she could come in.
Since it was possible to speak through the camera, the staff said “Bailey,” and she immediately walked towards the camera, poking her head in, and almost saying “I’m here, let me in!”
“Bailey is now safe. To all those who searched, spotted, called, hoped – we thank you. As we knew, dogs are amazing. Bailey returned to the ARL alone and rang our doorbell at 1:15am saying she wanted in. The staff rushed to the shelter and put Bailey in her pen. She was so happy, and so were we,” The rescue was posted on their Facebook profile.
It was amazing how she managed to find her way back to the shelter. She was three days without water or foodso naturally they welcomed her with open arms.
As soon as they made sure she was completely okay, they notified Micah to let him know Bailey was safe.
He hurried to the shelter. Hyde notes that he never stopped looking for her and was overjoyed to find her.
“It’s a happy ending that shows that not all shelters are bad.” Hyde said.
