A lot of helping hands and good hearts came together Wednesday, to help reunite Seymour the lost dog with his owner, an active duty solider in stationed at Ft. Bliss, Texas.
The young terrier was found running loose in north Madera County a few weeks ago, sore and dirty with a rope tied around his neck. The rope had been chewed through.
A check of the dog at the animal shelter revealed an implanted micro chip registered to Army Infantry Specialist E4 Ryan Rivera, who said he missed his dog a lot and wanted him back.
"It's just not the same with out him. He was always here to greet me, when I came in," Rivera said.
Rivera said his dog had been placed with another family while his mother underwent chemotherapy and he was in the field on a training deployment. When he returned he attempted to find Seymour, but the family and the dog were gone, he said.
Rivera said the he was really surprised and never expected so many people to step up and work to help him get his dog back.
"It's amazing to me - that so many people care about a lost dog and would help me get Seymour back home. People in California, Arizona, the media, on the Internet, the pilot ... I am so grateful to them all. It's all from the microchip that he was ID'd. He means a lot to me," Rivera said.
Pilot Bruce Hedlund, a volunteer with Pilots and Paws transportation group arranged to stop in Madera and pick up Seymour and fly the dog to Phoenix at no charge, a few hours drive away from the dog's owner in El Paso, Texas.
Hedlund, a recently retired pilot and Captain with American Airlines said he was flying in the central California area to Phoenix this week and knew he had to help reunite the pair as soon as he heard about the situation.
"How could you not help, after what he's doing for us. Serving his country... it's the least I could do. I am also a dog lover and know how important they are in our lives. We came down from Calaveras County this morning, made a slight detour and made the stop here in Madera to pick him up," he said.
Helund said he had flown other dogs and they seemed to enjoy it.
"He'll sit in the back (with a passenger) and look out the window - not unlike a car ride. We'll be in Phoenix in a couple of hours," Hedlund said.
Seymour jumped up and hugged Helund and seemed eager to go on the next leg of his adventure.
Shelter volunteers said it seemed as though the dog was always looking for something, or someone, and although happy he had never completely settled into his temporary foster home, even over a period of several weeks. They said it appeared the dog was possibly still looking for his original owner, Rivera.
As the plane landed Wednesday afternoon, Seymour was met and picked up by Arizona Small Dog Rescue in Phoenix and will be fostered for a few days until his owner, Rivera, can drive up on Saturday to take him home to El Paso.
Volunteers from The Friends of the Madera Animal Shelter raised money to assist with the care and ground transportation of Seymour, a dog lover in Colorado Springs posted the story on to the Pilots and Paws website and had transportation offers within 10 minutes, she said. The initial story and Seymour's departure was covered by all local television stations.
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