Furry Tails: The Long Way Home
The story of Ben and Melody Harworth and their family dog Zeus is a long and pretty exceptional one that stretches across the country and through international borders.
But it also includes a stop right here in Pennsylvania.
That's where we begin. Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, is where it all started for Ben Harworth. And that's because this amazing story ends with him donning the (Pittsburgh) black and gold to reunite with his long-lost best friend.
A military family, the Harworths have lived a lot of places, and that's how Zeus's journey began. Though what happened to him exactly, well, we may never know!
It was back in 2012 when the Harworths – Ben, his wife Melody, and their two sons – lived in Georgia with their beloved Rottweiler mix, Zeus.
However, there came a time when duty called for Ben, sending the family around the world to South Korea. Unable to take Zeus along, they left him with a friend.
After leaving the country though, tragedy struck for the family. They got word Zeus had died.
How awful for this brave military family. Ben off serving and defending our country, his family supporting him, and they lose a member so far away without ever getting to say a final goodbye.
Or so they thought.
Let's skip ahead to this year, July 2015. Unfortunately, Zeus will never be able to tell the tale of where he was and what he did for three years, but alive he is.
He turned up just last month in Durham, North Carolina.
All it took was a few caring strangers and a scan for a microchip, and soon the Harworths were getting the miraculous news.
But now back in the United States, they live all the way across the country in Washington State.
Further complicating matters, Zeus was diagnosed with heartworm, making him medical unable to fly on an airplane to reunite with the Harworths.
That's where the caretakers at Banfield Pet Hospital jumped in, offering him medical care and a ride (across the county) home.
Social media takes up the story from there, Banfield documenting the trek with a blog on their website as well as on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. The story was even picked up by Animal Planet.
From North Carolina to endless days of driving, daily vet check-ups, sightseeing and social media check-ins, and finally after three years and a six-day, cross-country adventure, Zeus was home in Washington!
There were tears, wet kisses and lots of tail wagging! And check this out, the Pittsburgh sports fan he is, Ben greeted his dog in his No. 43 Polamalu Pittsburgh Steelers jersey.
It just goes to show you, home is more than a physical place – four walls and a roof, or a street, town, county, state, or a country – it's about love.
The Harworths always kept Zeus in their hearts. And that's where he's forever home, whether in Pennsylvania, Georgia, North Carolina, Washington, half way around the world or a 3,000-mile journey away.
Welcome home Zeus! It's obvious you were missed, but you've also touched a lot of people along the way.
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Stay tuned animal lovers for more Furry Tails! You can follow me on Twitter at @HeatherLang24