A 14-year-old dog with hearing and vision loss vanished during a trip through Louisiana and later made it home.
His return followed a community search, an unexpected change in route, and a rescue from traffic on a busy highway.
What happened?
According to KTBS, Kiwi was reunited with his owner, truck driver Alexander Antelo, after nearly a week of searching.
The dog disappeared while Antelo was traveling through Shreveport, Louisiana, from Miami, Florida.
A wrong-number call to the Shreveport Dog Park Alliance helped trigger a broad social media effort to find the missing senior dog.
"We had an army looking for this dog," Cynthia Kieth with the Shreveport Dog Park Alliance said.
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Kiwi's situation changed when KTBS reporter Rick Rowe, after taking a different route, saw him in traffic near Greenwood Road. Rowe got the dog out of danger and brought him to a veterinarian.
Days later, that roadside encounter led to the result Antelo had been hoping for: Kiwi was identified and reunited with his owner.
Why does it matter?
The episode highlighted how vulnerable older pets with disabilities can be. Because Kiwi is blind and deaf, he was at a particular disadvantage outside, and he ultimately ended up on a highway.
At the same time, Antelo was trying to find a missing dog in an unfamiliar city. He said the rescue took a community effort, including social media posts, and that the pieces came together for a reason.
The Shreveport Dog Park Alliance helped spread the search through social media, and Rowe got the dog out of immediate danger before taking him for veterinary care.
After the search effort and the highway rescue, Kiwi was reunited with Antelo.
"There are a lot of good people in the animal rescue world," Rowe said.
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