Editor's note: This tale has a happy ending.
On Oct 29, 2013, Bradley the dog made a guest appearance at the San Antonio Humane Society's luncheon fundraiser. As you can see in this video, he snuggled with his foster mom, SA Humane Society Chairman Lynnell Burkett, while SA Humane Society President/CEO Nancy May described how people connected on social media from Alaska to Colorado and South Texas to save Bradley:
It started the evening of Oct. 16: I am a little reluctant to share this yet - because I do not know the outcome. Right now I know the dog is being taken to the emergency vet clinic.
I saw a retweet from a friend in San Antonio - but the initial tweet came from Alaska. The picture of this poor dog was attached and I just replied that I would help if they got it to a vet ASAP. Then people got involved from Colorado to get people to help catch the dog who was understandably shying away from humans.
I'm not actually sure how it all happened with Alaska and Colorado helping rescue a dog in San Antonio. I didn't care about anything except how I could help.
For the last 5+ years I've made a good living off of managing Social Media and today I saw it at its best. An innocent animal in pain getting help from people in at least three states.
The power of Social Media has always been in the good that it can do - I've built a career around that premise. I've spoken about it at SXSW, in Vegas, in NYC and elsewhere. But I have never been moved to tears by it until tonight.
I hope I can visit this little dog tomorrow. And I am sure I'll be wondering what Yoshi and Pixel (my two current dogs) would think if I brought him home.
Thanks to everyone involved. You have helped remind me that people are basically just decent.
Oct. 18, 2:56 p.m.: An awesome update - I received this email just now:
Good Afternoon Fellow Animal Lovers,
First, and introduction: My name is Seamus Nelson. I am the Director of Communication for the San Antonio Humane Society. I just wanted to let y’all know that we received word about this dog who’s paw appears to have been caught in something. While we were at ACS today we asked about him, and were able to include him in our transport program.
We have named him Bradley. Bradley is receiving medical attention as we speak by our great team of vets and vet techs. I’ve attached a photo of him. He’s already on some good meds, so he looks a little sleepy.
Thank you all so much for showing interest in this guy, we couldn’t do our job without your support. I assure you we will do everything we can to get him healed up and in a good home. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions.
Warm Regards,
Seamus R. Nelson
Director of Communication