Milo came into our lives in Kingston, Tennessee,
at 3:30 PM on 13 December, 2015. He only stayed a moment, but
what a moment it was!
At first he was just another dog transport
- pick him up from Jessica at the Mickey D's in Kingston and
deliver him safely to the Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Dandridge.
We follow the progress of our transports using a thread on Facebook
so every volunteer driver knows exactly where our little friend
is at any given moment and whether we are running ahead of or
behind the schedule printed on the Run Sheet. As we read this
thread, Milo's ride became more and more special.
On November first, Milo got a bath at his
Parrotsville, Tennessee home. Then, without his collar and visible
"credentials", he decided to do some exploring. His
family searched the neighborhood but he was nowhere to be found.
His disappearance was devastating, especially for his best friend
Sierra who has Cerebral Palsy.
What
happened next? Only Milo knows for sure and he offered only this
little smirk during our recent interview with him. We know from
eyewitness accounts that he was found wandering around a truckstop
in Colorado five days later and was taken in by Harriet and Bill
who really wanted to adopt him but, when they discovered his
microchip, they called his family in Tennessee. A pet transport
organization was contacted for the trip back home but they didn't
seem too interested in helping so Milo spent the next thirty
days endearing himself to his new friends in Oklahoma City.
Enter Rusty Miller and Liberty Ride Transport. Rusty
got the call on a Tuesday and by Thursday, Milo's ride was in
the works. On the twelfth of December, he was off to East Tennessee
gathering up Christmas gifts from volunteer drivers all along
the way and spreading Milo love everywhere in his path. This
well-mannered little boy was a treat for every heart that touched
him.
Two of
those hearts belonged to Penny and Zachary in Arkansas, who picked
him up in Russelville and passed him along to Denice in Little
Rock.
Zachary is autistic and he doesn't speak.
Milo touched him and Zachary spoke for the first time since a
tornado had destroyed the family's home several months before.
Penny was thrilled and she posted this photo collage on our Facebook
run thread.
Our friend Nora in Argentina calls dogs
our "four-legged angels" and surely this is so.
My friend and room mate Chancey
and I got the privilege of driving the last leg of Milo's long
journey. That way we got to meet Linda and give her all the Christmas
goodies he had collected along the way. |

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Linda sent us these cell phone
photos when she got home. Milo has finished his long long journey
and he has made a family - many families - very happy for Christmas,
especially a little girl who loves him so much. |
Special thanks to Liberty Ride Transport
Transportation Coordinators Rusty Miller and Terri Allen for
planning and monitoring this trip. Milo was delivered to his
mom ten minutes before the arrival time set out in their schedule.
Thanks to all the volunteer drivers:
- Roiann Musgrove, who picked him up from
his wonderful foster Susan Bossert and drove him from Oklahoma
City to Henryetta, OK
- Lucia Turner - Henryetta, OK to Fort Smith,
AR
- Tonia M Stinson - Fort Smith to Russelville
- Penny & Zachary Densmore - Russelville
to Little Rock
- Denise Dorton - Little Rock to Forrest
City
- Lynn Crocker - Forrest City, AR to Memphis,
TN
- Ginger Leonard put him up for the night
and took him to Jackson, TN Sunday morning
- Jennifer Noble Morehead - Jackson to Hurricane
Mills
- Jaime Hinger - Hurricane Mills to Nashville
- J. Lee Bonnet - Nashville to Cookeville
- Jessica Hamby - Cookeville to Kingston
- Kenny Redmond / Chancey Robison - Kingston
to Dandridge
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