When visitors come by the Meadow Brook Medical Care Facility in Michigan they may notice a four-legged resident named Scout. Scout is a formerly stray dog who now calls the care facility home after he escaped multiple times from the animal shelter to sneak into the nursing home.
Staff at the care facility reveal that Scout broke out of the Antrim County Animal Shelter down the road from their home three times in what can only be described as a herculean effort.
He scaled a 10-foot chain-link fence, then another 6-foot solid fence and then navigated across a busy highway before walking through their front door and making himself comfortable on a couch.
The third time proved to be the charm and employees decided to adopt him.
“I’m a person who looks at outward signs,” Marna Robertson, Meadow Brook Administrator, told Detroit Free Press in an interview. “He did that one time, two times, three times, and obviously that’s something that you should pay attention to. And I asked the staff, ‘Well, he wants to be here. Would anybody like to have a dog?'”
That fateful decision back in 2017 turned out to be a blessing for everyone. Residents love Scout and Scout loves them back. He regularly walks the halls and visits residents, especially those with treats. And being the clever dog he is, he’s figured out how to open their doors.
Scout is also very protective of the residents and keeps track of who belongs there and who doesn’t. He also senses if a person is sick or if they are passing on and will seek them out to provide comfort.
Although Scout’s past remains shrouded in mystery, Antrim County Animal Shelter believe Scout most likely came from an abusive home. They told the Detroit Press that he has the telltale signs of an abused dog. They also found bb pellets in his jowl. Staff at Meadow Brook also noticed it but they also know the gentle dog has chosen where he belongs.
Staff and residents at Meadow Brook don’t know why Scout chose them to be his family but they are very happy that he did saying “he brings love and he brings normalcy.”
Robertson said, “He certainly has a penchant for the elders. He’s very in tune with what they need, especially our very vulnerable population. If they have dementia or if they’re dying he knows that, and he will go and be with them and comfort them. He must’ve just felt like he needed to be here.”
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