Storm-displaced Dog Crawls Home on 2 Broken Legs

We make a big deal out of the number of people killed or displaced by tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, and the like — and we should — but the silent cost of such natural disasters is the pets that these displaced people leave behind. One such story is that of Mason, a dog whose family was hit hard by the storm that rocked Birmingham, Ala., in April.

The family, who still don't wish their name to be common knowledge (read: in the media), reported Mason missing after the April 27 storms. But Mason was missing. He was just gone.

The storm tested Mason, sweeping him away in its wake and breaking two of his four sturdy legs. Mason was nowhere near his family but knew where he needed to go — home.

And go home he did, inch by agonizing inch. For you see, Mason made it home to his family again. He crawled home. Three weeks later, he arrived on his family's front porch. The tears shed by his family probably started a new neighborhood flood.

His family rushed him to surgery, which was successful enough that doctors expect him to be able to walk again in six weeks. That will be enough time for his family's home to be totally livable again — it suffered damage from the storms.

The family won't likely care that Mason's front legs will be a bit shorter than his hind legs. They will have to look after him a bit more closely, of course, in that he won't be able to walk the same again. He might have trouble running. But he will be alive — and home — again.

Way to go, Mason. Dog gone no more.