Lady the lab was surrendered to a shelter after her beloved owner died in 2012. Even though she was eventually adopted, her new home didn’t last when her new owners got a small dog and the two pups didn’t get along. Once again, Lady found herself living at a shelter. Though she was adopted again, Lady couldn’t forget about her previous family. She escaped and walked a whopping 30 miles (with arthritis no less!) back to the place she had come to think of as home, but unfortunately her previous family would not take her back. She once again ended up at a shelter.
A volunteer at the shelter was so moved by Lady’s actions that she turned to Facebook for help. She pleaded with her Facebook audience to adopt Lady, and the plea ended up reaching Helen Rich – heiress to the Wrigley gum fortune. In an interview with Today.com Rich said, “Because I know rescues so well, I knew a lot of people would be scrambling to get a celebrity dog but she would wait and wait and wait and wait. And who knows who she’d wind up with, and if it’s the right place? So I said, ‘Chet, get a jet and go get my dog!'”
Lady’s less than happy story resonated with Rich, who had a rough childhood and battled breast cancer twice. “I’ve had to survive and endure and walk a long, long way like her. She endured. I endured.”
Let’s all raise a paw for Lady and her long journey to happiness!