Dog loving family stop in the middle of highway to save hungry and tired lost dog after animal control refused to help, eventually reuniting ‘Nemo’ with his pawrents: ‘We will miss him when goes home but will be glad he is back with his family’

Author image for Laurent Shinar
Laurent Shinar • Writer and Editor
Feb 12, 2026 1:00 PM EST

When you call emergency services to help with a dog on a highway the last thing you expect from them is to be told to leave it and move on. But that is what happened to this heroic family who could and would not leave a pupper behind.

Dogs that are found on highways are usually put there on purpose and are usually in rather terrible condition. It seems to be a magnet for animal cruelty. But in this story the highway dog that this family found turned out to have a slightly different story from the norm. For this dog happened to be an escapee, a simple mistake was made and this pupper got loose.

But being the dopey hooman dependent animal that he is, his efforts and interests in independence were very short lived and soon he found himself faced with crossing a busy highway with no clear path. That is what our heroic family came upon him and knew that they had to help. But after reaching out to emergency services and getting the finger, they took things into their own hands, going as far as to find out where this pupper came from and reuniting him with the family who had thought they had lost him forever. 

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    "Looks like we have a house guest for the week."
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    We were driving through NC on a 4- lane highway when we looked over and saw this guy running along the shoulder. We stopped to see if we could help him out and to make sure he didn't get run over.
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    We called the local animal control service but they wouldn't come out and get him because it was Sunday - they advised me to leave him on the side of the highway. So we
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    call the local highway patrol - who showed up and told us the same thing. We didn't want him to get run over and he looked hungry and tired so we loaded him into the car and took him
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  • Can we take a moment to appreciate just how messed up this situation is? We are not talking about office workers making changes to a presentation that will have little more effect on the world than someone making some money. We are talking about emergency services who simply could not be bothered to move a muscle because for one it was a Sunday, and two it was a dog and not a hooman. As though dogs are just something that can be left for the working week shift to pick up and deal with. Truly maddening to know that this is the response of the people who we task with our care and safety in society. 

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    call the local highway patrol - who showed up and told us the same thing. We didn't want him to get run over and he looked
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    hungry and tired so we loaded him into the car and took him home with us until we could figure out who he belonged to.
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    He had a rabies tag so we called animal control back after they opened on Monday morning to see if we could find out who he belonged with.
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    Turns out his his name is Nemo (because he is red?) and his mom was missing him very much. We live two hours away from them (we were passing through
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    their area when we found him) so they are coming on Friday to pick him up. Looks like we have a house guest for the week. My other two
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    dogs were a little suspicious of the new guy but they are all fast friends now and will miss him when he is gone.
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  • Wow, this got bittersweet real fast didn’t it. It is not all too often that such a story comes about. Usually dogs that are found on highways were left there and not expected to be reunited with their families. The most common case being a box of puppies. But here we have a family who made an honest mistake and just wanted to be reunited with their four pawed love. And while it might not have been the outcome that this heroic family were hoping for, it is still just as comforting to know that this doggo has a home who loves him the way he deserves. 

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    My 16yo daughter's puppy got loose a few years ago and was hit by a train. She was devastated at the time and didn't want a new dog. Nemo has been sleeping in her room during his visit and
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    now she is thinking she is ready for another dog. Maybe Nemo could start a career as a comfort dog as he is very sweet-natured and gentle. We will miss him
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    when goes home but will be glad he is back with his family who loves him very much. We are going to make sure he has a tag on his collar with his owners name and phone number before he
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    leaves in case he gets lost again. If we had had a phone number we could have gotten him back to his family the same day - but then we would not have had a chance to get to know him.
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    Adel... Red: Doberma... Wow, I can't believe they'd actually advise you to just leave him on the highway like that. That's insane.
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refuse hungry lost dog highway tired animal control reddit story save help pawrents family dog story middle stop dog lovers home
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