It takes a village. Shadow entered the CAWS program in June 2015. We thought he had found his “happily ever after” when he was adopted just 2 weeks later by a family in Vernal. Sadly, that was not to be.  On the cold dark night of September 9, 2016, Crystal (a hiker) found Shadow curled up on the side of the road in the remote desert outside of Tucson, Arizona.

Shadow was filthy, covered in cactus quills, cold, hungry, and had a large open wound on his tail. Crystal took Shadow home (Pic 1), cleaned and fed him, and had him scanned for a chip. AVID notified CAWS and we called the owners.  They explained that a series of tragic events had ultimately led to his abandonment. We’re not sure how our sweet Shadow ended up in the desert all alone, but we do know that Crystal’s single act of kindness touched forever the hearts of many! With the help of other associated rescue people, CAWS devised a plan to bring our boy home. The very next day, Connie Tedford, a fellow rescuer, arranged for two separate transports to bring Shadow to her sanctuary (Pic 2) in Wickenburg, Arizona. He recuperated at Connie’s for a week and then she drove him to the local airport where they met up with Don Clark, a pilot from Pilots 4 Paws (Pic 3). From there, Shadow flew to Henderson, Nevada and was handed off to rescue driver, Andrew Jacus (Pic 4). Andrew drove Shadow from Henderson to SLC, arriving that night to meet CAWS driver Cindy Morgan. Cindy delivered Shadow to his CAWS foster, Erin Howard.  Unfortunately, Shadow did require surgery to have part of his tail amputated, but that was nothing compared to what was to come! Our beloved Shadow (tail still bandaged and head in a cone), found his storybook ending at the NKUT Super Adoption on September 30, 2016 (Pic 5)!  It’s true what we say, “Once a CAWS dog, always a CAWS dog!”  CAWS is incredibly grateful to Shadow’s guardian angels – Crystal, Connie, Don, Andrew, Cindy, Erin, and of course Shadow’s new family! Thank you so much to our donors who continue to help us make stories like Shadow’s come to fruition.