Gabby Bannon of Eddystone, Pennsylvania, and her husband volunteered with LaMancha Animal Rescue to deliver pet food and supplies to those in need in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
They found around three dozen unchipped dogs without collars. The local humane society said the were overwhelmed and asked them to bring those dogs to a shelter back in Pennsylvania. Among the rescue dogs, Gabby felt an instant connection with one particular three-year-old pup and ended up letting him ride in the cab of the truck for the trip home. The dog, who she later named Rusty, quickly became part of the family, bonding with Gabby’s two year old and 6 month old sons.
Rusty loves his new family and has become quite protective of them. A few weeks after moving to their home dad was at work and mom took the 2 boys upstairs for a nap. They were sound asleep when she heard Rusty start barking. She tried to ignore it and go back to sleep. "I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and he jumped up and started tugging at my sleeve and he just wouldn’t stop,"
Rusty hadn't behaved like this yet but again it had only been a few weeks, perhaps he was trying to play. She got up thinking I may have to put him another room. When she opened her bedroom door however she was overwhelmed with smoke filling the hall. Apparently she had forgotten to turn off something on the stove. The smoke alarms started as she was carrying the boys down stairs. She got the boys out on the lawn and was able to go back in with an extinguisher and keep the damage to a minimum.
She's very thankful that she saved her home but also realizes that a minute or 2 later could have been much different. "I don’t like to think about what that would have looked like. Potentially we could have been trapped upstairs."
As she spoke Rusty lovingly wagged his tail and listened.