On the way to deliver a puppy to its new family, brothers Henry and Elias Friedman, had a change of plans that changed their lives. The family that was supposed to rescue the pup changed their minds and decided to not adopt the puppy after all, and Henry, instead of bringing the Finn the puppy back, decided to adopt him himself. At the time, Henry had left his career in advertising and was living in a converted cargo van. It was a good thing that the puppy turned out to really, really like traveling.
"It was a test drive, very literally a test drive. I was already living in a van. He turned out to be a really good travel dog," Henry told PEOPLE. "We just got really, really close."
After adopting Finn, Henry started an Instagram account for him called @KeepingFinn, where all of their adventures together are documented, including meetups with some of the account's fans. Finn, who is now 2 years old and 50 pounds heavy, is Henry's official best travel buddy. "You don't feel like a stranger everywhere you go," he said.
Having grown a huge social media following, Henry decided he wants to do more, and he decided to start a project rescuing other dogs in need like Finn. "Each month, the account features a local rescue from the area that Henry and Finn visiting on their travels, helping to raise awareness and funds for the rescue."
Henry and Finn together manage to raise about $13,000 a month and have raised over $150,000 to date. Alongside their monthly dog rescue initiative, "Henry and Finn have hosted spay and neuter clinics, offered free vaccinations, and held pet food drives as well. The duo has also helped more than 60 dogs find forever homes, even fostering pooches in the van while they wait for the perfect match."
"We bring dogs on the road with us, live the van life, bring them on big adventures and find them families," Henry explains. One of their latest achievements was joining Wings of Rescue and The Sato Project and helping them transport over 150 rescue dogs from Puerto Rico to their new adoptive families on the east coast.
Finn is, of course, loving all of the adventures. "He's never peed in the same place more than once, he is living his best life. That makes me really happy," Henry says. So, not only is this adopted puppy happy, he's making other puppies happy as well, and we're happy for them as a consequence.
Check out some pictures of Finn and Hanry's adventures below! For more wholesome dog rescue stories, read about a puppy left tied to a bench with a note getting adopted.
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