Senior Rescue Dog Driven Over 500 Miles By Volunteer To Be With New Family

A senior dog who was found wandering the streets of Sacramento, California, is looking forward to seeing out his twilight years in the warmth and comfort of a new forever home in the wide open spaces of Central Oregon.

Founder, the Border Collie mix, has a volunteer to thank for finally finding a place to call his owner. The kind animal lover drove Founder more than 500 miles to be with his new family. They asked not to be named in this story.

His arrival into the care of Susan Peck, his new owner, marks the end of an incredible journey. A journey that goes far beyond that 500-mile trip. A journey that has taken Founder to a new beginning.

Dogs like Founder don't always get that. A 2015 study conducted by Priceonomics looking at the number of dogs adopted via the website Petfinder found that while 95 percent of puppies on the site ended up finding new homes, that percentage dropped to 68 percent among senior dogs.

The odds looked stacked against Founder when he first arrived at Sacramento County Bradshaw Animal Shelter. He had dry eye, which limited his vision, skin masses, was overweight and struggling with both an ear infection and severe dental disease. His joints were riddled with arthritis.

But Founder was fortunate in one respect. As a dog over the age of 7, he was eligible to be transferred to Muttville, a shelter set up specifically for senior dogs. He was transferred to Muttville's cage-free shelter in San Francisco received the treatment needed to soothe some of his many ailments and eventually spent time with a foster carer.

Soon, staff decided Founder was ready to be put up for adoption. But while there were some interested parties along the way, a couple of months passed with Founder still yet to find a home.

That all changed in early September though when Susan Peck from Oregon, stopped by Muttville during a visit to San Francisco. Peck had been rescuing senior dogs for 20 years.

"What spurred me to do this was when a family member took their family dog, who was old and being forced to live outside, to their local pound and left him there to die," she said. "Since then, I've brought home numerous senior dogs, many with special needs, because these dogs deserve the best lives, the best care, and the most love."

She was introduced to Founder during this visit to Muttville and was touched by his story. "I wanted to provide a forever home for him here with my family on our small farm here in Central Oregon," she said. "I just knew he belonged here with us! We can give him all the love he needs, the best vet care, and a safe, happy home for the rest of his days."

Peck was not able to take him back with her though, meaning Founder remained at the shelter. That might have been how the story ended were it not for the intervention of a volunteer who saw Founder's plight and decided to act.

"I volunteer with Muttville because I believe deeply that senior dogs have so much life left to live and deserve every chance at a happy, safe, and comfortable forever home," they told Newsweek.

"When I came in for my regular volunteer shift and saw Founder hanging out at HQ I asked a staff member what the latest was on his adoption status) - they replied that there was an amazing family that wanted to adopt him...if we could only find a way to get him to Oregon. Say no more!"

The volunteer offered to drive Founder cross country to his new family. "My dog, who passed last year, was a road warrior. A few years ago, we drove across the country and back together, with Oregon being one of our favorite places of the whole journey," they said. "Something about helping a sweet boy like Founder get to kick start his amazing new chapter in a place that meant a lot to me, and my dog just felt right."

Though Founder's vision wasn't what it once was, when they finally arrived at his new home in Oregon, Peck and her family had set up a sign that simply read: "Welcome Home Founder." It's been a couple of weeks since Founder moved in and, according to Peck, "he is settling in very well."

"He takes several short walks a day and goes right back in and lies down in one of the many dog beds in our living room," she said. "He spends his days going from bed to bed to bare floor back to a bed... and when he's not napping, he's following the activity around him."

Sherri Franklin, who founded Muttville in 2007, has been blown away by Founder's journey. "I get goosebumps even now, thinking about his first tail wag after he got some relief from a dentist and some pain meds," she told Newsweek. "That's when I knew he was on his way to learning how to be a joyful dog! He got his new beginning and that's what Muttville is all about."

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