A woman who came to the rescue of a stricken dog was surprised to receive a text from an unknown number with a very important message.
While the death of a beloved pet is a devastating experience, having a pet go missing, only never to be found, is an altogether different kind of heartbreak.
However, sadly, it’s one that millions of pet owners experience every year. According to the Animal Humane Society, about 10 million dogs and cats go missing, having been reported lost or stolen, in the U.S. every year.
There’s no closure to the sudden disappearance of a pet, with owners left longing for either their return or some information regarding their fate. That’s what makes what happened to Anastasia Stacey, from Surrey in the U.K., so special.
TikTok/anastasiastacey12
It all started a few nights ago. Stacey had been driving home when she spotted a pair of eyes lit up by the lights of her car. There was a dog by the side of the road.
“It was just after I had finished work,” she said. “She was about to run in the middle of the road so I quickly jumped out of the car and grabbed her.”
Stacey initially feared the dog, who she would later learn was a West Highland White Terrier called Roxy, had been injured.
“I thought at first she had been hit by a car or attacked by a fox as she had blood on her, so I drove to the nearest vet that was open,” she said.
Thankfully, the blood had come from an ongoing ear infection that Roxy had irritated during her panicked state. Even more thankfully still, Roxy was microchipped, meaning tracking down her owner would be a straightforward-enough process.
With time ticking and the once-stricken pup now ensconced in the care of the vets, Stacey decided to go home, as she had been intending to a few hours earlier.
“I left Roxy at the vets as it was very late and I had work early the next day,” Stacey said.
At the time, Stacey didn’t think all that much of her kind deed.
“It wasn’t really a decision to help her,” she said. “It was an instinct. It just went without saying.”
But her actions clearly meant a great deal to someone else. Stacey learned how much it meant when she checked her phone the next day.
“Roxy’s owner, Kate, got in contact with me,” Stacey said. “The vet gave her my number.”
The subsequent texts were shared in a TikTok video Stacey shared under the handle anastaciastacey12 with the caption: “When you find a little lost dog on the way home from work… So you find her mama for her.”
It turned out Roxy had escaped Kate’s garden through a hole in the backyard, leaving her human fearing something awful had happened to her.
Kate was extremely thankful for Stacey’s intervention, which may have prevented a tragedy. She was even eager to send her something to show her appreciation, but Stacey said no thank you.
“I couldn’t accept anything,” Stacey said. “It was a good deed that went without saying.”
Kate did end up sending her something else though by way of thanks.
“She sent me a picture of Roxy snuggled up at home in a blanket,” Stacey said. “She looked very content, which made it all worthwhile in the end.”
Kate hasn’t been alone in praising Stacey, with many fellow animal lovers taking to the comments section on her TikTok video to show their gratitude.
“That shows what a kind hearted person you are,” one viewer said, with another writing: “Beautiful, with all the best intentions our babies sometimes get out, the worry is unbelievable! My boy got out. He was away for 5 minutes and I was thinking the worst. Thank you for your kindness”
Stacey said she shared the story “to show people that there are happy endings to stories sometimes.” She said: “I hope that everyone would show the same amount of effort and kindness if they were put in my situation as well.”
