Lost Dog Found In Dundalk Flown Hundreds Of Miles Back Home

DUNDALK, MD — When Sheila Salazar's recently adopted shelter dog Nigel was stolen right out of their yard, she was crushed. Someone had taken the beautiful boy from his Fayetteville home, just after he'd gotten settled into his new life. Miraculously, a Dundalk resident found Nigel roaming loose in an alley and reached out to an animal rescue for help with the dog they believed to be a stray. Leah Biddinger used her handheld scanner to check Nigel to see if had a microchip and thankfully he did.

But his owner lived in another state hundreds of miles away.

Biddinger housed Nigel at Dog E. Stylz in Essex and reached out to Amelia Air, an organization that helps rescue animals from high kill shelters and flies them to rescues who can place the animals in loving forever homes.

"They get animals in bad situations back into good situations. They are an amazing organization," Biddinger told WMAR.

Two pilots from Virginia volunteered to fly Nigel home, first class of course.

"It was good to see him go home. He was happy. He snuggled in my lap the whole flight," pilot Jordan Mccarthy said. "I know I would be devastated if one of my fur babies disappeared so it was definitely a moving thing to help."

Salazar said she was beyond grateful for the strangers' act of kindness and at a loss.

"They got him home to me and as you see he has not left my side," she said.

Biddinger commended everyone involved in helping Nigel make his way back home.

"Knowing the rescue community was able to come together and make this happen is overwhelming. I’m still in awe of what happened," she said.