clear the shelters

Pit Bull Reunited With Owner After Showing Up at Indiana Shelter

An employee at the Humane Society of the Calumet area found a "missing dog" post about Chief, a recently arrived pit bull, and was able to immediately reunite the dog with his owner

One lucky pit bull found his forever home for the second time Saturday during the nationwide Clear the Shelters adoption drive. 

Joe Cool, aka Chief, jumped over a fence and ran away from his home on Monday afternoon. By Tuesday, Chief found his way to the Humane Society of the Calumet area, where he stayed for the rest of the week.

Shelter employee Stacy Budeselich came to Chief's rescue on Saturday when she was scrolling through Facebook looking for "missing dog" posts in the area. She saw a post from Chief's owner and immediately recognized the pit bull's face.

"I said, 'Wait a minute, that dog looks familiar. I think we got him in,'" Budeselich said.

Budeselich called the phone number attached to the "missing dog" post, and within half an hour the owner showed up to the shelter with a laptop full of photos to prove he was Chief's owner. Budeselich said Chief looked excited to see his owner, but he was a little nervous because he knew he should never have run away.

The Humane Society of the Calumet area has seen happy endings like Chief's before. Budeselich said just last month another dog was reunited with his owner after spending three months in the shelter. Budeselich said she routinely checks Facebook and "missing dog" websites to make sure her shelter doesn't have a dog that already has a forever home.

While Chief and his owner reunited, hundreds of first-time and veteran pet owners adopted dogs and cats across the Chicago area for NBC and Telemundo's "Clear the Shelters" event. As of 3:15 p.m. 715 animals had been adopted in the Chicago area, and more than 9,000 had been adopted nationwide.

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