A Happy Ending To An Otherwise Tragic Story.

When the devastating Camp Fire broke out in Northern California last month, it spread so fast that in many instances people who were away from home didn’t have time to get back and save their possessions and often, tragically, their pets.

One couple who lost their home and were finally able to return to survey the damage this week, though, found their dog Madison waiting for them.

A volunteer with the group K9 Paw Print Rescue, Shayla Sullivan, explained in the comments that the couple’s other dog, Miguel, had turned up in another town, and she had held out hope that Madison would too.

Sullivan said every time she was allowed inside the burn zone over the last month, she would “put out fresh food and water” for Madison.

She wrote that she “had the idea of placing an article of clothing that would smell like” the dog’s owner, Andrea, “to keep Madison’s hope alive until his people could return.”

Whatever happened, the faithful dog returned, and eventually, so did the family it belonged to.