Worker at Arizona freeway rest area helps reunite man with lost dog

PHOENIX – A dog owner was grateful to an Arizona Department of Transportation rest area worker who helped reunite him with a beloved pet.

“It all turned out as a happy ending, but it could have been a disaster for me,” Jesse, who didn’t want to use his last name, told KTAR News 92.3 FM recently.

The ordeal occurred when he was driving eastbound on Interstate 10 to Phoenix with his two dogs, Snuggles and George.

“I got all the way to Phoenix and called my dogs, and George was not answering,” Jesse said. “And I went into a huge panic mode.”

The only thing he could think to do was drive back to the last place he’d stopped, the Burnt Well Rest Area about 40 miles west of Phoenix.

“It was 105 degrees outside, it was hot,” he said. “My dog wasn’t used to it, and I was just thinking that this is going to be horrible.

“He’s got to be there. If he’s not there, I’m sure this would have killed me.”

A traffic backup caused the drive back to take around two hours.

But when he got there, Jesse found George tied to a bench and being watched by a maintenance worker, Michele Meredith.

DOGGY TALE — Sweetest pet story ever! Rest area caretaker creates a doggone happy ending when pooch goes missing. MORE: https://t.co/P07eGRdR3g pic.twitter.com/TORZzVshjv

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) September 20, 2018

“When I approached her she had told me that when we had left he went running after the vehicle,” he said.

Meredith told Jesse it took her 20 minutes to call George over to her.

“It was a joyful and happy reunion,” Jess said. “As soon as George noticed me he was on his back legs with his front legs just trying to reach as far as he can to get to me.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Nailea Leon contributed to this report.

Related

Hit the road! ADOT inviting photographers to participate in photo contestADOT responds to musical motorist with warning about unsafe saxTeen dies after being found with life-threatening injuries in San Tan ValleyGen Digital submits preliminary offer to acquire GoDaddy in potential Valley mega-dealFormer Supreme Court chief justice to complete independent review of Matthew Mayich collapseArizona doctor sentenced for his role in a $36.5 million Medicaid fraud case