Dog Ran 20 Miles, Twice, To Former Owners Who Didn’t Want Her

SEMINOLE, OK — Poor Cathleen. The dog just wants to go home. The 6-year-old Great Pyrenees mix ran away twice from a temporary home in Oklahoma looking for the family who gave her up. She was determined, too, running 20 miles each time in her quest to get back home.

“Her heart wants to be with them, but they cannot keep her,” the Seminole Humane Society/Seminole Animal Shelter wrote on its Facebook page, saying that “Cathleen is precious and her original family loved her very much.”

As the story goes, they gave her to a family in Prague, located about 20 from Seminole. When she took off on her second run for home, the Humane Society stepped in to find her a home where she would be content.

It’s a sweet but sad story that has captured hearts around the country. Cathleen may be an adult dog, but her desire to get back home is some kind of puppy love.

It’s too bad her owners don’t want her. The truth came out in a deep dive in the comments on the Humane Society’s Facebook post, where her plight brought out the best in human kindness. Some wondered if visitation possible so she could at least see her beloved family on occasion. Others offered to help pay a deposit so the owners could bring her home.

But the truth is, the home Cathleen was running to wasn't welcoming.

“Her previous owners do not want her back,” the Humane Society posted. “She deserves a wonderful home.”

Back up, the commenters said. What about the sentence that said they loved her very much?

“They obviously don't love her,” the Humane Society acknowledged, noting the communications officer who wrote the post “was obviously trying to put a positive slant on the situation.”

Cathleen sounds like a great dog. “Humble, kind and passive” is how the Humane Society described her, noting she has “a calm temperament and wouldn't hurt a fly.”

The story has a happy ending. She was placed with a new home on Friday.

Photo courtesy of Seminole Humane Society / Seminole Animal Shelter