Anyone who’s met a husky knows they're always ready for an adventure. The mischievous pups are experts at keeping life interesting. But even by husky standards, a dog named Bruno recently pulled off an adventure that raised the bar.
Bruno lives with his
mom, Beatris Guerta Sanchez, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
One day in April, Sanchez came home from work and opened her door, and Bruno darted out.
“I looked for him all night and early the next morning,” Sanchez told The Dodo. “I was very worried.”
Sanchez posted Bruno’s picture on social media asking for help finding him, and others started sharing her post.
As Sanchez frantically searched for Bruno, he set off on a daring journey — traveling about 11 miles from home, crossing into the U.S. and ending up in El Paso, Texas. That’s where Yvonne Zarate, who was driving with her mother, spotted Bruno running through traffic. “My mom and I panicked,” Zarate told The Dodo.
Zarate asked her mother to whistle to get his attention, but Bruno didn’t hear it.
“I then drove behind him as he stayed walking in the middle of the road so no one would run over him,” Zarate said. “Luckily, traffic slowed down, and the people behind me saw that I had done that because of the dog.”
Zarate put on her emergency lights and jumped out of her car. “He approached me right away,” she said. “When he saw the door of my vehicle open, he jumped inside my car just like that.”
Zarate, who is allergic to dogs, couldn’t resist Bruno’s charm after she realized he didn’t understand English, so she started speaking to him in Spanish.
“I thought he wanted me to pet him, which I did — big mistake,” she said. “He never stopped pulling my hand with his paws so I could pet him over and over again.”
Zarate took a photo of Bruno and shared it on a lost pets website and social media pages, letting people know she found a dog.
“I knew he had to belong to someone,” Zarate said. “He was very well groomed, his nails were so nicely trimmed and his behavior was perfect.”
Zarate also checked missing-dog posts online and drove Bruno around the area, asking whether anyone knew him or had lost their dog.
When her efforts yielded no clues, she contacted El Paso Animal Services, and officers picked him up.
While the staff tried to figure out where Bruno belonged, it was animal lovers sharing the lost-and-found posts who helped crack this international case. A social media sleuth sent Sanchez a post showing Bruno was at the municipal shelter.
“She contacted us right away, was ecstatic and wanted to do what she could to get her pup back,” Michele Anderson, with El Paso Animal Services, told The Dodo.
But the happy ending they all hoped for hit a slight snag: Sanchez didn’t have the documents needed to enter the U.S. to pick up Bruno.
“That's when our team came together,” Anderson said. “We worked with the staff at the (international) bridge to coordinate a time so we could meet at the halfway point, and she didn't have to worry about having to come into El Paso if she wasn't able.”
The next day, the team walked across the bridge with Bruno.
Officers waited at the halfway point. And when Sanchez spotted them, she ran across the bridge, crying with joy, giving Bruno a huge hug.
Sanchez was so grateful to have her pup back, and posted a video of their reunion on social media. “I want to thank each and every person who showed support, took the time to read the post and shared the news,” Sanchez said. “I also want to thank the person who was the first to take Bruno in and keep him safe. I want to thank the Animal Services team of El Paso for their great work, love and commitment to animals.”
The post made its way to Zarate. “I saw the video of the reunification, and it made me tear up,” she said. “I felt very much relieved and happy.”
While everyone is thrilled Bruno is with his mom after being away for several days, how he made it to El Paso remains a mystery.
“We can’t be sure how he ended up over on this side, but we do see pets crossing the border,” Anderson said. “They either just walk across at the port of entry, or they come through the canals. We're really grateful that we were able to get Bruno back home.”
