The Alliance Magazine Winter 2017

or people with disabilities. They assured me that Bongo
would do well there and would still likely be involved in
search and rescue work, just not with other dogs. Since he
was already in California, it seemed a better option for him
than being shipped back to DC.
Ultimately, despite Bongo excelling at his training, they
found, as we did, that he was a very social guy. As a working
dog he would live a solitary life in a kennel when he wasn’t
working, and they didn’t feel that was the best place for
him because of his affectionate and outgoing character.
So they placed him with the family of a PetSmart executive
who were familiar with his breed and tendencies—and
who adore him! He gets lots of regular training and tons of
exercise from his teenage human “sister” and goes to work
with “mom” several days a week.
This was everything we could have hoped for, for Bongo,
now Sawyer. His family saw the same goofy and loveable
qualities we saw and was willing to put in the time and effort
to make it work. And so many people and organizations
worked together to save him and find him just the right
home, whatever it took. As the Beatles song goes, “The
long and winding road, that leads to your door will never
disappear, I’ve seen that road before; it always leads me
here.”
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*The Ann Brody Cove Fund was established to provide low-cost and
free medical care in our Medical Center to families in need of financial
assistance. This service keeps pets in the loving homes where they
belong, while keeping space free in our adoption centers for pets who
are truly homeless.
10 ALLIANCE