This Guy Drained His Bank Account To Rescue And Adopt A Dog 1500 Miles Away

May 20, 2019 by apost team

Joel Carpenter was 23 years old, between jobs and living with his mother when he found Sadie, a 3-month-old collie-husky mix on petfinder.com. Some might refer to whatever gripped Joel, upon seeing her picture, as madness. Because, at the time, Sadie was being kept at a shelter in Minneapolis, while Joel lived in Portland, Maine, and had only about $500 to his name.

But that was enough to purchase a $300, one-way plane ticket to Minneapolis and cover the $175 fee for Sadie's adoption. And so Joel got on a plane and went to her.

“I don’t know, the only way to describe it was this intense gut feeling,” Joel said.

“It was a calling, for sure, man. She’s so beautiful.” He later told a reporter for Inside Edition, who covered the story of Joel’s return home, "I just had faith it was gonna work out.”

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Past picking Sadie up and bringing her back to Portland, Joel had few plans and a very small budget. In fact, after retrieving Sadie from the shelter, he had only $30 remaining in his account.  So began a week-long journey between Minneapolis and Detroit, with Joel and Sadie hitching rides along the way and staying with an assortment of kind strangers, whom Joel connected with through couchsurfing.com.

A man who owned an RV and was on a nationwide tour got Joel and Sadie both to Grand Rapids, Michigan, buying Joel a meal and Sadie a bag of dog food en-route. In Grand Rapids, coverage by a local TV station connected Joel with another helpful stranger.

By that Wednesday, they were headed for Detroit, where the pair once again met up with a reporter from Inside Edition. They still had 800 miles remaining between where they were and where Sadie’s new home awaited her.

Inside Edition crossed that final distance for them, buying a plane ticket for the two, as well as a pet carrier for Sadie. She also received vaccinations during her time in Detroit. As Joel summed up their journey, before leaving for home, “It's been a long week.”

Joel admitted that his methods for adopting Sadie may seem irresponsible but added that he could not resist her pull.

“There were so many variables, and it all fell into place," he said. "It just feels right.”

Comment below and let us know what you think of Sadie's unusual adoption!