This story is one of a kind to say the least. Meet little 9 month old Sasha Finnegan. She was born and raised in Indialantic, FL and went missing for five days before a family in Grand Chain, ILL discovered that signs were posted and that her forever family was looking for her back in Florida.

The family from IL had found her near a busy intersection while visiting relatives in Florida. Not knowing what to do, they put her in the car and had to head home because one of the kids had to be back to school. So, they brought her back to Grand Chain, IL and then got in touch with her forever mom Christie five days later, amazing.

So, on the morning of Saturday, March 17, 2003 Sasha's journey home began. I (Dana Hearn of LILAC in Paducah) was contacted to help get her home by being a transport. I met the IL family early that morning to pick up Sasha and take her to her next leg of the journey. I traveled from Paducah, KY to Cadiz, KY where she then traveled through more than a dozen volunteers until reaching her forever home a day later. Sasha was also on medicine for a liver condition, so when the owner told the IL family of this condition, they immediately had her ship them the meds so they could continue her medical treatment. Sasha fit in very well with all the volunteers she dealt with. It was so exciting getting phone calls and emails as Sasha would reach her next destination. She returned home to a big party in the back yard. My husband traveled with me and handing her off to the next person was so hard, she was precious, loveable and very well behaved.

It just goes to show that there are still very caring people in this world that when needed will come together to make a difference in one's life. This story made the front page of The Paducah Sun on March 18, 2003. You can see the article by going to www.paducahsun.com and clicking on the archive link and then searching for "People form relay to get Florida dog home from Illinois".