A stray dog with no name and little known about his background continually escaped a shelter, going to extraordinary lengths to reach a nursing home, and did so until he became a permanent resident.
Everyone wants to be in a place where they are needed and desired. People want to be somewhere and with someone who values their skills, gifts and talents. Much like human beings, animals also want to be where they are valued and loved. This seems to be especially true for one stray dog in Michigan.
RELATED: Dogs Cry Tears of Joy When Reunited with Their Humans
Scout was brought to the Antrim County Animal Shelter in Bellaire, Michigan. Not much was known about the stray dog's background. He didn’t even have a name. The staff gave the stray dog the name “Scout,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
However, the outlet reports that it was clear to the Antrim County Animal Shelter staff that Scout had been abused. Staff could feel BBs logged in the animal’s face when they ran their hands along his lower jaw. The animal had been shot in the face at least one time.
RELATED: Lost Boy With Autism Wanders Off in Northing But Diaper But Dogs Surround Him Until He's Found
While the stray animal was at the Antrim County Animal Shelter, Scout had other plans. One night, Scout broke out of the shelter. After scaling two fences, including a 10-foot chain-link barrier, and a busy highway, he found his way onto the couch of a nearby nursing home.
Scout was discovered on the couch in the morning and returned to the shelter.
Scout then did it all over again, returning to the Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility, primarily for the elderly suffering from terminal illnesses. He was, once again, taken back to the shelter.
But this animal was bound and determined. Scout escaped the shelter for a third time. And for a third time, Scout was back at the long-term care facility, the Detroit Free Press reports.
RELATED: 2 Loyal Dogs Come Up with a Rescue Plan to Save Owner After the 71-Year-Old Collapses
After the third time, the staff at the care facility officially adopted Scout, adding him as a resident.
Scout has been a welcomed addition since his adoption. He brings love, care and companionship to the facility's elderly residents.
“He certainly has a penchant for the elders,” Marna Robertson, the nursing home’s administration said. “He’s very in tune with what they need, especially our very vulnerable population. If they have dementia or if they’re dying, he knows that, and he will go and be with them and comfort them. He must’ve just felt like he needed to be here.”
In addition to the comfort and love Scout provides, he also gives the residents something else: normalcy.
“He just brings love, and he brings normalcy, you know?” said a staff member. “When you come into a facility, right, you have a lot of loss. And one of the losses is when people have to leave their homes is pets. So, it really helps the residents.”
This once-abused stray dog who didn’t even have a name is bringing love and comfort to a group of people who desperately need it.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Menacing Stranger Came At Her In The Woods And Her Laid-Back Dogs Instantly Transformed
God knew what He was doing when he blessed us with dogs.
“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:21
h/t: The Detroit Free Press & YouTube.com/News Center Maine
Featured Image Credit: YouTube.com/News Center Maine