A husky was found wandering the scorching Arizona desert without identification, sustenance, or a home after its owner was deported.
Last fall, 28-year-old Jaime Simpson noticed the solitary dog traversing the wilderness near Tucson and initially thought its owner might be nearby.
However, as the dog began to trail her, she realized the animal had nowhere else to turn.
“He started heading towards what appeared to be an unoccupied house,” she recounted to the Daily Mail. “There were a few houses, but one seemed particularly deserted.”
Simpson inquired with the neighbors about the sociable husky and learned that the previous owners had expressed fears of being deported.
“They told me that the family had been detained and deported,” she explained. “ICE had simply released the dog from the house and left it behind.”
It seemed the dog had been wandering back and forth between the desert and his home, waiting for days for owners who never returned.
‘They said that the family really, really loved him and they had talked to the neighbors prior about the possibility of being detained and deported,’ she added. ‘They said, “But we want to comply. We don’t want to scare our neighbors or anything.”‘
The pitiful husky was found wandering the Tucson desert and assumed his owners must be nearby
The dog was seen wandering back and forth between the desert and an empty house
Jaime Simpson saw the dog all alone in the desert and assumed his family was nearby
At first, Simpson allowed Pima County Animal Control to take the dog, hoping they could find out more information about his previous owners.
But the sad, abandoned animal didn’t have a tag, wasn’t microchipped and required serious medical attention.
Simpson works for a shelter and animal care clinic that administered shots, neutered him and diagnosed him with a respiratory infection.
Since the Trump administration began cracking down on undocumented immigration early last year, Simpson has heard about more and more pets in her area being abandoned after ICE took their families.
‘I work with a shelter clinic where they deal with a lot of that,’ she said.
‘They hear a lot of stories about this, and I see the ones that have been left because the owners were detained and deported, and no one [in ICE] came back for the dog because they didn’t care to.’
According to the New York Times, hundreds of dogs, cats, bunnies and even chickens have been displaced by deportation.
The number of animals that have been left behind is impossible to count, but animal shelters and non-profit organizations across the country have been working to accommodate them.
Simpson adopted the husky and named him Eclipse. He is now beloved by her whole family
When Simpson’s family first adopted Eclipse he was hesitant to join in the chaos, but soon warmed up to the entire family
Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control Director Marcia Mayeda told the Times that many immigrants are afraid to surrender their pets to government agencies before self-deportation.
‘We are the government, our officers look like law enforcement and we euthanize,’ she told the Times. ‘What we get is the tip of the iceberg.’
The Pima County Animal Care Center told the Daily Mail that it doesn’t usually know whether an animal is brought to them due to deportation.
‘When the shelter responds to calls about pets found alone, the Animal Protection Service team doesn’t typically know how the pet ended up alone,’ a representative said.
Even though she chose to go through the process the ‘right’ way, Simpson knew she wanted to adopt him. They named him Eclipse.
‘[The shelter] said, “Are you sure you wanted to adopt this dog?,”‘ she said. ‘And I was like, “Duh, of course I do.”‘
At first, Eclipse was very shy and hesitant to play with Simpson’s other dogs. But the family began speaking to him in Spanish, and he quickly opened up.
‘We had a party at our house and my husband’s family doesn’t really speak English at all for the most part,’ she said.
‘So he was so lively at that party. Like, he was meeting and greeting everyone. I was like, “I didn’t know you loved humans this much.”‘
Simpson is a disability advocate who posts frequently about her service dog Echo (pictured). She is pictured with her husband Reuben Torres and their daughter Halston
The family has now had Eclipse for months and has taken him on dozens of adventures.
‘You have no idea how loved you are, Eclipse,’ Simpson wrote on social media. ‘He had never been anywhere but the desert — around cactuses and rocks.’
‘We changed that. Now he has seen grass, beaches, fields, and more. I hope he felt safe in his first trip to the beach,’ she added.
Despite Simpson’s fondness for the new addition to her family, she still hopes to one day reunite him with his owners.
‘We love him so much,’ she said. ‘And we just want his original family to know that he’s so loved and spoiled right now.’
Simpson is a model, trainer and disability advocate who has more than 100,000 followers across social media platforms.
She and her husband, Ruben Torres, share two daughters, Halston and Payson.
The animal lover frequently posts pictures of her adventures with service dogs Echo and Everest and new addition, Eclipse.
The Daily Mail has reached out to ICE for more information.
