Dog Is Rescued
From Interstate

Early afternoon on Oct. 14, my beloved Bichon, three-year old Chelsea, became frightened of gunshots and ran away from our home on Harvey Road near Exit 4. Shortly thereafter, she was reported seen running around McDonald’s and later headed north in the southbound breakdown lane on I-89!

I’ve always considered myself to be a responsible pet owner. All our pets have yearly exams and required and recommended vaccinations. They are all neutered or spayed.

A truly responsible pet owner will have visible tags on all pets. But Chelsea, who is micro-chipped, was wearing no collar and thus no visible identification. Now that Chelsea’s big brother, Shadow, is in Doggie Heaven, Chelsea did not spend more than potty time outside. She always came when I called her. I never thought she would run away--even though I knew she could be fearful, but not aggressively so.

That gave me a false and dangerous sense of security. Furthermore, I have always worried about a pet getting hung up by their collar, even breakaway ones. Ironically, the morning after Chelsea’s disappearance, Chittenden County Humane Society had a public service radio announcement about keeping pets safe. They reported that 90% of lost pets, without identification, are never returned to their homes, which is not surprising.

Miraculously, Chelsea beat those odds. I have been told that numerous brave guardian angels were involved in rescuing her from certain death as she, totally traumatized, weaved in and out of roaring traffic on I-89. Alert drivers either swerved or braked and others were able to leave their cars and pursue Chelsea on foot. Since even the most athletic of drivers were unable to outrun her [have you witnessed the Bichon blitz?], she was finally road-blocked by two husky young adults and car doors.

In the meantime, I was hastily searching and calling out, on foot and by vehicle, and posting notices in nearby prominent places and making phone calls to others. As it began to get dark, I agonized over my spoiled Chelsea out in the dark having to fend for herself with zero amenities and all kinds of danger.

Wrong! She was blessed with a guardian angel family who realized that she had experienced enough trauma in a couple of hours time and invited her to join them and their standard poodle in a human bed for the night.

An employee at Rinker’s Mobil called at 7 a.m. the next morning to say that a lady in Montpelier had found her, and, yes, alive. Chelsea and I were ecstatically reunited one hour later. This guardian angel did so many things right. She followed her sixth sense and got off Exit 4, instead of Exit 3, which she had planned to do. She notified the state police, town police, animal shelter, and left her name and number at Rinker’s. She was even going to have the animal shelter check for a microchip on Monday.

Chelsea is my own pup, and we have a bond like no other. In my opinion there is nothing greater in this world than an animal that loves and trusts a person so completely. I truly failed her, and for that, I am deeply sorry. However, I have learned a lesson late in life. I deserved to be sick with worry while Chelsea miraculously found herself in the loving hands of other dedicated pet lovers.

Louise Sjobeck

Randolph