Erie’s animal rescue and care services continue to prove how far they’re willing to go for neglected pets in any community.

This weekend, a group effort between the Erie Animal Network and the ANNA Shelter helped a dog found injured and abandoned in a rural North Carolina community find its way to Erie for support.

What would you do if you were on a vacation in a different state and find a lost and abandoned dog? For a volunteer with the Erie Animal Network, it was an easy choice.

“She spent about two hours in the freezing cold and rain trying to get the confidence and trust of this dog to get her into their vehicle,” said Marnie Woodworth, public relations and social media manager for the Erie Animal Network.

The volunteer called North Carolina authorities and asked them to take the dog to a shelter but they said there wasn’t anything they could do for the weak and tired dog.

So, the volunteer is deciding to bring the dog back to Erie to get the love and care it needs.

And when the Erie Animal Network reached out to Ruth Thompson of the ANNA Shelter, she said yes to helping in a heartbeat.

“And then she said, ‘I know this is crazy, but this dog’s in North Carolina, my friend was driving through, she called the police, they told her the dog would be euthanized,’ and literally in the next two words was ‘bring it,'” said Ruth Thompson, founder and director of the ANNA Shelter.

Even though the shelter is practically always at capacity, Thompson said she still will do everything she can for needy and neglected animals.

People come to her with animal surrenders often, but she has to put them on a waiting list as those pets have a home while others struggle out on the streets.

“She needs medical care, she needs a home and hopefully this kind of thing helps not just her, but all of the dogs and all the animals at shelters. Maybe people will see this and start thinking about it maybe wanting to open their hearts and homes up,” Thompson explained.

It’s realistic to say that bringing this dog back to Erie could have saved it’s life. And now, she’s on her way back to Erie as we speak.

Katie, the volunteer who found the dog, even cut her vacation short to make the trip.

“We all work together for a common purpose. We have a wonderful no kill mission in all of Erie County,” Woodworth said. “It really takes the entire community and we really are very lucky here in Erie County to have such a wonderful network of people to help.”