Puppy “Kicked Out” on Route 66. Now “Highway” is Cruisin’ Down Easy Street 

Rancho Santa Fe, CA – A puppy whose owner kicked him out along Route 66 near Kingman, Arizona will soon be cruisin’ down Easy Street. “Highway” was abandoned and left standing near a fruit stand for two days before the owner of the stand took the frightened pup to a shelter. Now the little orphan is at Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC) in Rancho Santa Fe and is expected to become available for adoption this Friday.  

HWAC Adoption Manager LaBeth Thompson says, “It’s hard to believe that anyone could take an innocent little puppy and dump it out, much less leaving it along a highway as busy as Route 66! That’s practically a death sentence for a curious puppy.” 

Thompson was told that the owner of the fruit stand travels the same road every day. “One morning he saw a puppy sitting beside Route 66. When it was still waiting for its owner to return the next day he picked it up and took it to a local shelter called HALT (Help Animals Lives Today).” 

“HALT tells us that this pup was very scared when he arrived,” says HWAC spokesman John Van Zante. “Now that he’s had food and water, plenty of puppy naps, and some serious, ‘Lap Time’ he’s acting like a normal, energetic puppy.” 

Van Zante says that the Kingman area has a huge problem with pet overpopulation. “HALT President Lottie Benker contacts us with updates on her overcrowded facility. When we have room available Lottie brings some of her animals to us. It’s a pretty easy decision for us to make. We take them or, in many cases, they would die.”  

“Highway” will become available for adoption during the 11th annual Iams Home 4 the Holidays (IH4TH) pet adoption drive. IH4TH was started by Helen Woodward Animal Center and 13 other San Diego area shelters in 1999. This holiday season the San Diego shelters and rescue groups are leading nearly 3,400 others in 20 countries in an effort to find families for 1.5-million orphaned animals by January 4.  

For more information about “Highway” or other dogs and cats available for adoption visit Helen Woodward Animal Center at 6461 El Apajo Road in Rancho Santa Fe, call 858-756-4117.