My husband was discharged from the army in June of 2008. He and one of his sgt's were on their way home from Colorado. My husband stopped at a bathroom in New Mexico with Carmellita(Our adopted puppy dog) she got out of the back gate of the truck. He looked for her for hours but had to hurry home for an interview the next day. Of course, my two little boys were upset because they had become so close to Carmee. She was their present when they moved from Texas to Ft. Carson and she helped them transition more easily to army life. She is truly the best dog we have ever owned. She shakes, rolls over,never has "accidents" in the house unless it truly cannot be avoided. Did I mention she is an 85lb dog. So she is essentially perfect. Needless to say I was also distraught. I called every shelter from Colorado to New Mexico. Gave them her home again ID and prayed for weeks she would be found. I called the police station in the little town where she was lost in. They said they would be on the lookout. Well two days later on Monday I called back and the animal catcher had not even been notified. He immediately got me to send a picture of Carmee and put it on a lost poster,notified the town newspaper and radio station.It took a couple of weeks but they found her outside of a restaurant in town. James works 24/7 he is the animal officer, airport manager, and ambulance worker he also has the kennels near his home. We had then just started our jobs and could not take days off to go get her nor could we afford gas; this is when gas was 4.00/gallon. So James,the angel he was,kept Carmie until I happened upon USHIP by typing ship a dog in google's search engine. I posted our story and Phillip responded even with my bid of only 55.00. It was a dream come true. He dropped her off. When the boys came home she was there. It was truly a happy ending! I feel very priviledged to have met these two kind hearts in a world so lacking this particular type of kindness.Thankyou