He’d had enough of being at the animal shelter, so Scout climbed over one tall fence and then another, crossed a busy highway in the darkness, entered the automatic doors of a nursing home down the road, walked unnoticed into the lobby, hopped onto a couch, curled into a ball and quietly went to sleep for the night.
An astonished nurse there found him the next morning. She called Animal Control and they discovered that he’d escaped from there the night before.
Scout was a stray mutt. He had no identity, no history. The shelter staff gave him his new name, but otherwise they knew nothing about him, though they noticed he had the distinct demeanor of an abused dog. The sheriff came and took him back to the shelter.
But a few nights later, there was Scout, back on that same couch in the nursing home lobby.
After his third escape and trip to the nursing home the staff decided to adopt him.
Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility is a long-term medical care residence. It cares mostly for seniors, some of whom have terminal illnesses, or dementia, or simply nowhere else to go or nobody to look after them.
For some reason, this is the place Scout the dog decided to make his home. And the residents are delighted.
Scout has free rein. He wanders the halls at will, lies down wherever he wishes and visits residents whenever the mood strikes him. He learned how to get into their rooms by jumping up and using his paw to pull down on door handles. And he knows which residents keep dog biscuits in their walkers to give to him.