29 dogs orphaned in US after owners die in car accident, neighbour rehomes all of them

Man in US rehomes 29 dogs after owners dies in tragic car accident

After his neighbours died in a car accident, a 42-year-old man in the US stepped up and found homes for all 29 dogs they owned.

Alex Appleby, who is a resident of Modesto city in California, received news of the accident on 29 May via a call from his neighbours’ distraught son.

While Sue Crawford died on the spot from the crash, her partner Lawrence “Junior” Coleman passed away on 5 June.

Couple leaves behind 29 dogs after car accident

Mr Appleby told Yahoo! News that he met the couple last year while he was living out of his truck camper.

Before meeting the couple, he would park wherever he thought was safe.

Out of kindness, the couple offered to let him park on their property, even offering him electricity and water.

To Mr Appleby, rehoming the dogs was a way to repay the kindness they had afforded him.

“They gave me a place to go when I didn’t really have anywhere,” he said.

Mr Appleby knew that Ms Crawford was a devoted animal rescuer and would often take in dogs.

Even with this knowledge, he was surprised by how many there were.

“I didn’t know there’s gonna be that many in there, there’s a lot, but I don’t think anybody knew that there were 29,” he said.

Despite that, he felt he could not leave any of them behind to “wither away in the sun”.

Found a home for all 29

However, it was not all smooth sailing. Mr Appleby first had to gain the trust of the canines.

“At first, half of them wouldn’t even come near me,” he said, noting that while there were still a few rebels, he eventually had most of their trust.

Mr Appleby then began coordinating with a local rescue to get the dogs adopted — an effort that led to his home becoming a mess.

“It’s been a full-time thing. My place is a disaster,” he joked. “But I’ll have time to clean once they’re all adopted.”

For him, this was not just a way to pay back the couple for their generosity, but also to ensure a part of them lived on.

“I lost my parents 11 years ago. They’re the closest thing to parents,” said Mr Appleby, who successfully rehomed all 29 dogs on 17 June.

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Featured image adapted from Yahoo! News and GoFundMe.