“The love from this community over one dog, it’s crazy,” Lindsay Rasmussen, Riley’s owner, said.
SAFETY HARBOR, Fla. — One Pinellas County couple is feeling extra thankful this week as they reunite with a loved one they weren’t sure they’d ever see again.
“It was the most traumatizing experience of my life. He is my child,” Lindsay Rasmussen said.
When Hurricane Milton tore across Safety Harbor, it tore down Lindsay and her husband’s fence. Before Lindsay noticed the damage, her 10-year-old Border Collie mix, Riley, ran off.
As a result of trauma from when he was a puppy, Lindsay said he went into “survival mode.”
“I adopted Riley nine years ago,” Lindsay explained. “He was severely malnourished, underweight, abused. As soon as he got out he went into survival mode. He was only thinking of food, water, shelter, and survival. People were a threat.”
In the six weeks that followed, …