Lost Dog Brought to Shelter Makes Clever Escape and Runs Home in Viral Video

A dog brought to the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter in West Virginia has gone viral after pulling off an incredible escape.

The dog, whom the shelter initially called “Dawson,” was brought in after a property manager contacted animal control about what was believed to be an abandoned dog inside a home. But it turned out Dawson wasn’t abandoned at all — he was simply lost and determined to get home. Not only did he escape from his kennel, but he also managed to unlock the shelter’s front door and then find his owner!

Shelter staff later learned from the director that the dog’s real name is Rufus. The owner had been staying temporarily at the house where animal control was called. While Rufus’s owner’s current living situation isn’t fully clear, the shelter has offered to help by providing food, a bed, or “whatever he might need.”

Despite the heartwarming video going viral, the shelter shared that it has raised only a small amount in donations to help the homeless animals they are caring for. The organization is currently in dire need of funds and hopes the attention will help support their ongoing work.

They shared the following on Facebook:

“Dawson was found and is safe! So why are we asking people to donate to the Dawson Fund for Stray Dogs?

This is the realest post you’ll probably ever read from a shelter.
Please read these 10 short facts, and then decide whether you want to donate.

1) We’re an open intake shelter so we take any animal if there’s space.
2) we don’t have a lot of money (1/3 of our peers)
3) government budget cuts shredded $150,000 from the shelter this year.
4) everything is more expensive for all of us, and vet care costs rose more than general inflation.
5) we went from 2,847 animals in 2023 to a staggering 4,763 in 2025.
Almost FIVE THOUSAND ANIMALS!!! That’s 67% more animals just since 2023!!!
6) West Virginians don’t have it easy and times are hard.
7) even with all that, we’re a nationally recognized “No-Kill” shelter, for 3 years in a row
8 ) even with 6.7 MILLION views on our own, and many media mentions and stories from coast to cost, HuffPost, even World News Tonight, we’ve only raised $11,000.
9) we love animals so much that we can’t be too proud to beg.
10) Dawson’ escape was incredible and we’re never going to have another video go that viral so we have to ask while you’re looking.

Dawson was lost and then he was found. He had an amazing story, and that story has a happy ending.

Not all of them do. That’s why we need your help. We really need your help. Now, we’re asking you to donate so we can help the other 4,762 animals, Or, at least with his fund, the stray dogs.

Please donate, and if understand why we need you, consider making it monthly.

You can donate to the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter here.