Alicia Edrington was driving near her Arkansas home when she passed a vehicle lumbering along the shoulder. It was a rickety wagon, filled with dogs, being pulled by a forlorn man on a bicycle. A cardboard sign strapped to the rear of the wagon read “Stray Dog Ministry — God Loves Strays.”
Edrington circled back and tentatively approached the man and his canine cavalcade. “Steve” had been pedaling from California to meet his girlfriend, Volena, in Indiana. He told Edrington that he’d been homeless since 2001. During those 14 years, he made it his mission to care for any stray dog he encountered. At that time, 50 and counting. One of the dogs hitching a ride had just birthed a litter.
“He treats the dogs better than he treats himself,” Edrington later said in an interview. “I find it extraordinary.”
Touched by Steve’s devotion to homeless dogs, Edrington, a volunteer with West Memphis Animal Shelter (WMAS), launched a GoFundMe page. The online campaign raised tens of thousands of dollars, triple the target amount, and inspired others to help.
Kelley Seaton, a volunteer with Animal Rescue Corps in Dyresburg, Tennessee, piled Steve and his dogs in her van and drove them to their destination. A pet-friendly hotel put Steve, Volena and the pups up for several weeks.
One well-wisher connected the couple and their dogs with Angela Hopson, Executive Director of Street Outreach Animal Response Initiative (SOAR), in Indianapolis. Hopson performed wellness checks on Steve and his dogs and catapulted awareness of Steve’s story.
Steve and his family were deluged by worldwide support. One person donated a trailer which Steve, Volena, and their dogs now call home. Funds raised paid for spay/neuter services and ensured lifetime medical care for the entire canine family.
Some criticized WMAS for its initial efforts to keep Steve and his dogs together.
“There have been a few people who don’t agree with what we’re doing,” a spokesperson said. “They think we should ‘convince’ him to surrender them all . . . Removing these animals from their guardian, a guardian who obviously loves them more than anything and who is willing to give up things for himself, in order for them to have what they need, would not only negatively affect them but this man as well. He is their whole life and they are his.”
Steve sparked a chain reaction of selflessness. He had the least — and gave the most.