Dog Goes Missing After Tornado Destruction, And Finally Reunites With Her Family Again 2 Months Later

The best happily-ever-after there possibly could be

Shasta

• Published in Animal Stories
• May 5, 2020

Tornadoes are incredible forces of nature, capable of unfathomable destruction that even our dogs can't escape. The beginning of March 2020, there were some storms that produced some significant tornadic activity in Tennessee.

Twenty-six people perished due to their destruction and over three hundred were injured. As for one family in particular, Eric and Faith Johnson, have been searching high and low for their Australian Shepherd named Bella, ever since the their house was destroyed by the storms.

Heroically, the brave dog was the only reason the family made it out alive! The dog alerted the family and helped them to hide but somehow got lost along the way.

Miraculously for this family, they were all reunited 54 long days later with their beloved, heroic dog. And it's bitter sweet to say the least, but still a dog's story worth telling!

Bella reunited and it feels so good! <3

Nearly two months had passed since the family had last seen their beloved pup, they never even got the chance to thank their sweet girl for alerting them and getting them to safety in their bathtub.

The joy!

Getting her all washed up, she had to of been terribly dirty.

The family never truly lost hope, but they were beginning to wonder if they would never get the chance to see her again.

They'd often revisit their old home, that was now nothing more than a pile of rubble. Each time they'd be sure to leave pieces of their clothing so that if she did come back looking for them, she would recognize their scent.

They desperately wanted to believe she was hiding out somewhere familiar, close to home. They were a good guess too, because they weren't wrong at all. Their thoughts were confirmed when several people from their neighborhood mentioned seeing her after the tornado had swept through.

You can see the relief in her eyes!

So sweet.

Friday, April 25th they received a call from a friend of theirs that they attended church with. She relayed that she had received a call from an employee that works at an animal grooming service, and she was sure that she had seen Bella across the street.

Romeyn, being skilled in helping families reunite after storms, knew exactly what kind of action to take to get the sweet girl home.

All the love!

Finally, safe and sound.

She hung up some trail cameras on a fence close to the grooming business and managed to capture Bella coming out of a narrow gap between two buildings. Who would've thought!

Romeyn then made the world changing phone call to the Johnson's. Eric came immediately, bringing his brother-in-law and pastor along with him. They were able to block the passage from both ways so that Eric could jump the fence and save Bella.

Back together at last!

Bittersweet.

“I started losing hope. This is amazing because to have her back with us, it completes our family now and puts a missing piece back,” Eric said. “This dog saved our lives. She’s the one who gave us a chance to survive.”

I can't imagine how great it must feel to finally sleep on a soft squishy bed again.

Comments in support came flooding in.

I did too.

I can't even begin to fathom the kinds of things.

I can't with this comment LOL.

So so happy.

My heart feels for her!

<3

So well deserved.

I hope she is able to get back to her normal self.

Shasta