DENHAM SPRINGS — A Georgia dog recently found herself on an unexpected adventure in Louisiana. On June 26, the Browns, who are from the Atlanta area, were driving on the interstate in Denham Springs when their truck caught fire.
“It was about 10 or 11 at night. We were traveling with our dog in our truck and we had an emergency. The truck caught fire,” Eldrice Brown told UWK. “We had to get out and we made sure our dog out. When she got out, she ran across the interstate and I couldn’t get across to get to her and because of all the cars, she ran really fast and I knew she made it across.”
Brown said their dog, Domina, made it across four lanes of traffic before the truck burst into flames. “The truck just went up in flames so fast, we barely got out with our lives. I was just glad that she made it,” she said.
The fire department and police responded to the truck fire, and after they left, the Browns went searching for Domina. “They got there and stopped the traffic. That’s the only time we could get across to try to look for her and call her,” Brown said. “My husband and I were trying to find her. The fire department was trying to find her. Everybody was looking for her and calling her name.”
“But it was dark out there, and with all the sirens and the lights and everything, I guess when she ran, she just hid,” she continued.
The Browns looked for her until after midnight, but eventually had to find a hotel for the night. The next morning, they went back to the interstate and looked for Domina again, but couldn’t find her. They eventually took an Uber to a nearby town to rent a car. “When we got into a rental car, we came back, and rolled up and down there and went looking for the dog again,” she explained. But then they had to give up and head back to Georgia.
Spotted on the side of the road
Sometime after the Browns left town on Saturday, Rodney Canale, of Denham Springs, was driving to Harbor Freight, when he saw something out of the corner of his eye on the interstate.
“It looked like a little boxer, and I said, ‘Oh, somebody lost a little boxer.’ So I got off the exit, and I tried to get to it. I couldn’t get to her, and so I just gave up.”
But after his stop at the store, he kept thinking about the dog he saw. He drove back by the spot where he saw her, but didn’t spot her again and headed toward home. But he kept thinking about her.
“I jumped on interstate. I said, ‘Oh, it’s only one mile. Let me turn around and go back’,” he told UWK. “She was still sitting in the same spot off the edge. I got out and tried to catch her and brought it some water, and she started barking at me.”
Canale tried to catch her but she kept getting away. Eventually, he was able get her. He posted about finding the dog on Facebook, and took her home with him because the shelters were closed.
Social media connection
While Canale posted in local groups about finding a missing dog, the Browns were posting about what happened to them and their dog in Cane Corso Facebook groups.
“My husband put the word out to all of them,” Brown said. “He gave a description of the dog and the location, what time it was, the collar she had on, that she’s not a mean dog. She’s just scared.”
“This morning, he got a message that said, ‘Is this the dog that you’re looking for?’ And he responded back and said it was,” Brown continued. “The woman replied and said the dog is on another group, and gave him the information. My husband went on that site, messaged Rodney, and let him know that this is our dog. We have papers, pictures, everything.”
Canale echoed the same series of events. “This morning at 5 a.m., I got a message from a guy named Ken. He said, ‘Man, that’s my dog. I was in my truck and it caught fire on the interstate’,” Canale said. “He said it happened Friday night, and she got away, and he and his wife searched and searched and searched.”
Ken relayed all of Friday’s events to Canale and they eventually exchanged numbers and talked on the phone.
“We gave him the description and told him everything,” Brown said. “He said, ‘What’s the dog’s name?’ And we told him the dog’s name is Domina. When he told his wife to go call her name, he said when they called it, she stood up and started wagging her tail. He said, ‘Yeah, that’s your dog’.”
Reunion bound
The Browns and Canale made plans for Domina to be reunited. Once they got off the phone Monday morning, the Browns hopped in their car and started on an eight-hour road trip back to the Bayou state.
“We’re on our way right now,” Brown told UWK late Tuesday morning. “We’re coming from Atlanta. We’re on our way to get this dog. I have her favorite teddy bear here. She’s a family member. We’ve been shedding tears since it happened Friday night. I don’t care about possessions, that’s my baby.”
“It’s just amazing. I woke up every morning crying because she sleeps in bed with us and to not have her there was just hurtful,” Brown continued. “I was just praying, ‘God, please let somebody have her who is going to take care of her and treat her right. God, please, I want my dog back, but if I can’t get her, please let somebody take care of her because she’s a good dog’.”
The Reunion
“I just wanted to see this little munchkin right here,” Kenneth Brown told UWK as the couple held on tight to their four-legged baby. The couple met Canale Tuesday afternoon in Denham Springs, expressing gratitude.
“So thankful. Oh my God, she looks so good, so well taken care of. Thank you for that! Thank you for that!” Eldrice told Canale. “This is just unbelievable. That’s my baby! That’s my baby!”
Speaking to Canale, the Browns said he had restores their faith in humanity, calling him a hero. “People don’t help anymore. No, but then you have people like him,” the Browns said.
“I’m just glad to have her again. You ain’t never leaving my sight,” Kenneth said.
And the Browns made it a point to ensure Canale knows he is never allowed to go to Georgia without reaching out to them.
“I cannot thank you enough, man. I dare you to come to Atlanta and not see me. I dare you. You bring the wife, kid man. I dare you to come and not see me,” Kenneth told Canale.
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