We are so thankful for the success of our first ever community wide tent event. Thanks to the help and partnership with PetSmart Charities, PetSmart of Midland and the local shelters and rescues around the greater Midland area, we were able to adopt out over 56 dogs and cats to their permanent homes! We could not be more proud! Thank you to all of the hardworking volunteers, staff and sponsors who put this event together.

_  Posted: Sunday, May 6, 2012 10:05 pm | Updated: 10:18 pm, Sun May 6, 2012.

Shanna Sissom:

The White family had long since thought they had thrown the last soccer ball to their playful border collie mix in November of 2010.

The dog named Max normally went everywhere with his family, but on Nov. 5 of that year they were in Austin to attend a University of Texas volleyball game, and left Max at home.

"We asked a friend to come feed him, and when she opened the door, he bolted out," recalled Kelly White.

The family returned home and launched a campaign to find Max.

"There were signs on every main intersection post, an ad in the paper," and on the Internet, White recalled.

Then on April 26, the family with one teenager still at home did something out of the ordinary for a week night, and went to On the Border for dinner.

Since they were in that part of town, they did something else highly unusual for a weeknight, and stopped by PetSmart.

Bailey White, 14, wanted to go look at puppies inside the shelter there, operated by Midland Humane Coalition. The shelter already was closed for the night, but much to her surprise, Bailey recognized Max in a kennel through a glass window.

And Max recognized his family.

"He looked at me and started barking and jumping," Kelly White said.

The family talked to a manager, and arrangements were made to get Max out after hours.

"We took him home," Kelly White said. "He came in, smelled the other dogs then he went outside and found his soccer ball."

Max now lives with three fellow rescues. He's the only one that will fetch a ball.

"We were absolutely thrilled," explained Kelly's husband, Eric. "I just couldn't believe it."

The Whites would learn Lynne Sawyer of the coalition had spotted Max at Resthaven Cemetery, where he had dug himself in a hole.

After some effort, Sawyer lured him with food, and took him to Midland Animal Services.

Once at the animal shelter, there was concern the dog might not be adoptable, because he wasn't acting sociable.

But, Sawyer went out of her way and worked with Max, and he soon made his way to the adoption center at PetSmart, where he had been for just a few days when the Whites found him.

"My thought is God puts you in places you're supposed to be at and to me it's a God thing," Kelly White explained.

Norma "Steg" Stegall, executive director of the coalition, was elated to hear the story, and shared her sentiments.

"God always puts us in specific places for a reason," Stegall said of the family-dog reunion.

While it remains a mystery what Max was up to from Nov. 5, 2010 to April 26, the family is just glad to have him back.

A recent family outing at Beal Park suggested that much, as Max wagged his tail and fetched his soccer ball.

"He just landed back in our laps," Kelly White said.

Shanna Sissom can be reached at shanna@mrt.com.


Read more: A year and a half later, family finds lost dog - Mywesttexas.com: Top Stories http://www.mywesttexas.com/top_stories/article_f7478f79-8cf1-5d28-807d-d302517e417a.html#ixzz1uOXjv7nY
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Watch the full video here!
_By: Katiera Winfrey

MIDLAND--A family was reunited with their lost dog after he had been missing for over a year. Kelly White and her daughter found their dog after a chance visit to the PetsMart adoption area. "We walked over to PetsMart and she turned around and said Mom, that's Max."

"And sure enough I walked up there, and went up to the window and stuck my hands up on the windows, and called Max's name, boy he just looked at me right in the eye, and just started jumping up and down and barking and doing his little howl thing that he does."

Kelly was excited, she wanted to get Max out immediately. Luckily for her, she had a few connections that helped her get Max back home quick.

"And it was just one of those fortunate things that had I not gotten involved with Midland Humane Coalition, I never would have known those individuals so it probably would have been a little bit more difficult."

The connection ran even deeper. Four years prior, Max was adopted through the PetsMart adoption program. The woman who found Max is part of animal outreach. It is an organization that works in connection with the PetsMart adoption program.

"Lynn said he wasn't real sociable, he was scared. He was really afraid and everything and they were a bit concerned that he wouldn't be an adoptable animal."

When Max was staying at the PetsMart he didn't want to play with anybody, but now that he's at home, he's back to his old self.

"So we had some new members to our family and Max smelled them, and he immediately took off outside found his soccer ball and he started doing his soccer thing."

When the White family returned to PetsMart the next day to finalize paperwork, the employees could immediately see a difference in Max.

"Of course my husband had the ball and he was throwing it a hundred miles an hour and Max was jumping all over and she goes that is just not the same dog that we had."

Max's personality bounced right back, but physically, he remains changed.

"He's a lot more frail than he used to be. He used to be real thick, real buff and muscular."

Regardless, Kelly is just happy to have her baby boy back.

"They're like our children, our furry babies."

_

The Williamson Family now includes our sweet Boston Terrier mix, Gretchen!

Little Mrs. Audrey, now known as Jojo to her new friends, was adopted two weeks ago from MHC. Jojo came to visit us this week. She is so happy with her new friends that she wouldn't leave their side! We are so thankful that this adoption has been so successful!

This weekend, May 4-6, we will be participating in the nation-wide adoption campaign. Please come and join us as we rally for adoptions for all of our pets!